Palo Alto Weekly

Palo Alto

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Trees return to California Aveune Page 3

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Herpetologist Robert Drewes creates his own American Dream with coldblooded creatures

page 21

Spectrum 14

Movies 32

Eating Out 34

Puzzles 56

N Sports High school hoop showdowns

Page 23

N Arts Touring Stanford’s outdoor art via Podcast

Page 27

N Home & Real Estate Art in unexpected places

Page 37

t9 h Annual 1

presents PLAYING WELL WITH OTHERS BEETHOVEN: Quartet in E-flat major, Opus 127

BRAHMS: Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Opus 18

Sunday, January 31, 2010 7PM Le Petit Trianon, San Jose

Friday, February 5, 2010 8PM St. Marks Episcopal Church, Palo Alto with special guests, Anna Kruger, viola and Tanya Tomkins, cello

Tickets: www.ivesquartet.org • 650.224.7849

Pho

t o C o nt s t

OR CALL FIES ENTR CATEGORIES

• PENINSULA PEOPLE • PENINSULA IMAGES • VIEWS BEYOND THE PENINSULA • YOUTH • ADULT ENTRY DEADLINE: April 2, 2010, 5:30pm ENTRY FORM AND RULES AVAILABLE AT www.PaloAltoOnline.com For more information call 650.223.6508 or e-mail arenalds@paweekly.com

ARBOR FREE CLINIC A program of Stanford School of Medicine

STANFORD MEDICINE IN THE COMMUNITY

Stanford Hospital & Clinics thanks the 50 Stanford physicians and 65 medical students per quarter who volunteer at Arbor Free Clinic for their commitment to community service.

The Arbor Free Clinic ďŹ lls an important role in our community by providing health services and medications free of charge to uninsured patients in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.

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Patients are accepted on a walk-in basis every Sunday from 10 am – 2 pm. The Clinic is located at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park Division. For more information, visit http://arbor.stanford.edu

The Pa lo Alto Sto ry Pro je c t

story?’

Stories about Palo Alto, as told by local residents as part of the Palo Alto Story Project, are now posted on the Internet.

Watch them at www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Visit us at: http://stanfordmedicine.org

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Upfront

Local news, information and analysis

California Avenue trees ready for planting 100 volunteers will replant green canopy Saturday

by Sue Dremann alifornia Avenue will be naked no more.

Fifty trees have arrived in Palo Alto to re-green California Avenue, according to Catherine Martineau, executive director of the nonprofit Canopy, which is overseeing the replanting on Saturday.

The Silver lindens, Southern live oaks, Freeman maples, Shumard oaks, valley oaks and Chinese pistache trees are at an undisclosed location in Palo Alto, with staff

C

and volunteers preparing the root balls for the trees’ new home, said Sharon Kelly, Canopy program director.

The trees will replace 63 mature holly oaks the city removed the week of Sept. 14 as part of an overall plan to revitalize the shopping district. The sudden removal of the trees outraged the community.

One hundred volunteers have signed up to help replant, Martineau said. “It will be dramatic. There are

different tree sizes. We hope to plant one side of the street all at once,� she said.

The tree-planting event on Saturday is open to the public.

The city’s Assistant Public Works Director Mike Sartor is heading the effort. “We look at this as a possible moving-forward opportunity.

We’re very excited about getting this moving,� Sartor said. His department has adopted the theme, “New Trees for a New Year.�

The majority of trees will be Freeman maples and lindens, with the other species serving as accents or anchors, such as at the El Camino entrance, he said. The

trees will be 10 to 14 feet tall and between 1 1/2 and 2 inches in diameter, depending on the species, he said. After five years, they will grow to 18 and 20 feet and after 10 years will be 25 to 28 feet tall, he said.

The volunteers will meet at 9:30 a.m. to sign in at Mimosa Lane, the alley next to Country Sun Natural Foods, 440 California Ave. Shortly after 10 a.m., 20 teams will begin planting.

A tree-planting ceremony to honor outgoing Mayor Peter Drekmeier and new Mayor Pat Burt will commence at 12:30 p.m. in front of Bank of the West at 414 California Ave., Martineau said.

“The Mayor’s tree planting is a 14-year tradition by Canopy, where a tree is planted in honor of the outgoing mayor. This year we are playing catch-up so we will also honor Pat Burt,� she said.

Many street-parking areas will be blocked off while the planting takes place, with spaces opening up as the planting progresses up the street, Martineau said. Volunteers are being asked to park in parking structures and lots away from California Avenue. The event will take place rain or shine, barring a severe storm, she said. N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

EDUCATION COMMUNITY

Search is on for new Paly principal

Palo Alto doctor assembles team to help Haiti

Jacqueline McEvoy’s departure, and others, will reshape Palo Alto school district’s leadership team

Schools rally with bake sales, shoe collections, a garage sale

by Chris Kenrick

by Chris Kenrick

H

S Don Feria

e provided medical help following Hurricane Katrina and the wildfires in San Diego. Now, Palo Alto Medical Foundation physician Enoch Choi feels the call to Haiti.

Choi, a family physician in the foundation’s Urgent Care Department, and nurse-practitioner Melinda Porter of Kaiser Permanente are in the midst of recruiting a French-speaking medical team of 10 to travel to Haiti from Feb. 15 to Feb. 21.

There, they will work in a clinic housed in a shipping container, which will be equipped to send digital diagnostic data to U.S.-based doctors, enabling them to assist with care.

It’s a makeshift solution for makeshift times.

Choi expects other medical volunteers will continue to staff the clinic after they leave.

So far they have four doctors and one nurse going on the trip.

Continuous Twitter and Facebook updates from people already in Haiti have made planning the trip much easier, Choi said. “I’ve been following day by day how the security situation and everything else are changing there,� he said.

Bake sales on nearly all Palo Alto school campuses have been held in support of the trip.

The trip’s major sponsors are the Palo Alto-Menlo Park Parents Club, the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church and Mountain View’s Abundant Life Christian Fellowship, Choi’s home church. “Although I am an evangelical Christian, my volunteer work is not limited to church missions, and this Haitian mission will provide medical relief regardless of the patient’s reli-

Palo Alto Medical Foundation urgent-care doctor Enoch Choi is recruiting other medical personnel to join him on a medical relief trip to Haiti in February. gious background. “Prayer will be offered on an opt-in basis,� he said. “I have a specific feeling that God is calling me to serve in Haiti because I have this past experience, I see a great need and God is giving me an enormous amount of support,� Choi said. “Doors have been opening to give us a welcoming organization that’s been there for generations, that’s an indigenous, independent church.�

The Haitian sponsor of the clinic is the Haitian Foursquare Church, which Choi said is independent of, and larger than, its U.S. denominational counterpart.

Choi is working with other organizations, including Telehelp and Jordan International Aid, to equip the shipping container and provide security, a constant concern for relief workers. “My parents think it’s too risky, but my brothers are supporters,� Choi said. “They’ve done disaster relief work, too. “My wife is concerned, but I wouldn’t go unless it was safe to go, and we’d be protected.�

Duveneck Elementary School mother Sara Woodham-Johnsson has been monitoring

school bake sales and explaining Choi’s effort to other parents. “Some individual schools sprung into action immediately after the earthquake. In general, the different schools didn’t know what was happening outside of their school. “My goal was to raise awareness and get a movement started in Palo Alto. I thought it would be a testament to how Palo Alto rises to an occasion to help out in a tragedy,� Woodham-Johnsson said.

Choi said he will take a week’s vacation for the trip and noted that the medical foundation’s parent company, Sutter Health, already has a team of 15 surgeons and one orthopedist in Haiti “doing surgery day and night.�

Choi, a foundation employee since 2001, also is known locally as a frequent blogger on a variety of topics.

On Twitter, where he has 2,635 followers, he describes himself as “bio dad, hubby, doctor, electronic health record geek, volunteer, blogger, wine geek, foodie, Christian and karaoke warbler.� N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be e-mailed at ckenrick@paweekly.com.

enior teachers and assistant principals at Palo Alto High School huddled with school Superintendent Kevin Skelly this week to discuss the replacement of Paly Principal Jacqueline McEvoy, who last Friday announced her resignation effective June 30.

But her departure is one of four high-level administrators, whose replacement will result in a new leadership team for the district and possibly result in merging supervision of elementary and secondary schools into one K-12 position.

Skelly told the Board of Education this week that new hiring will be one of his most urgent goals for second semester. “That work is going to take a tremendous amount of time on the part of the senior cabinet and the board.

In this organization, people are the most important part of our work,� he said.

McEvoy, whose three-year tenure was marked by improved student achievement as well as by rocky relationships with some parents and students, said she was resigning for personal reasons “with a bittersweet heart.�

She previously served seven years as principal of San Mateo High School.

In a letter to the Paly community, she expressed gratitude for the (continued on page 6)

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Upfront

PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL CIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUE BROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1 CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL 26 (TENTATIVE) AGENDA - SPECIAL MEETING PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD ROOM - 25 CHURCHILL AVENUE JANUARY 30, 2010 - 9:00 A.M. 1. Council Retreat for the Purpose of Identifying Council Priorities for 2010 (TENTATIVE) AGENDA-SPECIAL MEETINGCOUNCIL CHAMBERS FEBRUARY 01, 2010 - 6:00 PM 1. Closed Session: Labor Negotiations 7:30 PM or as soon as possible thereafter Council Conference Room 2. Study Session: Joint Meeting of Human Relations Commission (HRC) and City Council Members concerning Palo Alto Human Relations Issues 8:30 PM or as soon as possible thereafter Council Chambers 3. Adoption of a Resolution Expressing Appreciation to David Solnick for Outstanding Public Service as a Member of the Architectural Review Board 4. Adoption of a Resolution Expressing Appreciation to Tim Grippi Upon His Retirement 5. Selection of Candidates to be Interviewed for the Planning and Transportation Commission 6. Appointments for the Parks and Recreation Commission for Four Terms Ending on December 31, 2012 7. Appointments for the Library Advisory Commission for Three Terms Ending on January 31, 2013 8. Appointments for the Storm Drain Oversight Committee for Three Terms Ending on December 31, 2013 9. Adoption of a Resolution to Provide a Supplemental Military Leave BeneďŹ t to Pay for the Differential Between Regular Salary and Military Pay and to Extend Employee BeneďŹ ts (As Applicable) to Employees Called to Active Duty 10. Approval of an Electric Enterprise Fund Contract with DiversiďŹ ed Utility Services, Inc. for a Total Not to Exceed Amount of $3,000,000 for Providing Overhead Electric Transmission and Distribution System Construction Services - Capital Improvement Program Budget EL 98003 11. Utilities Advisory Commission Recommendation to Adopt a Resolution Opposing the “New Two-Thirds Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providersâ€?

Ballot Initiative 12. Approval of an Amendment to a Contract with Columbia Telecommunications Corporation (CTC), to Retain Professional Telecommunications Engineering Services in Support of an Economic Stimulus Grant Application for the Broadband Project 13. Public Hearing: Approval of an Ordinance Amending Title 21 (Subdivisions) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code to Revise the DeďŹ nition of “Private Streetâ€?

14. Ad Hoc Committee Report on High Speed Rail (Continued from January 25, 2010) 15. Public Hearing: Consider the Approval of Water Supply Assessment to Stanford Medical Center Facilities Renewal and Replacement Project (Continued by Council Motion on April 6, 2009) Page 4ĂŠUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

PUBLISHER William S. Johnson EDITORIAL Jay Thorwaldson, Editor Jocelyn Dong, Managing Editor Carol Blitzer, Associate Editor Keith Peters, Sports Editor Tyler Hanley, Express™ and Online Editor Rebecca Wallace, Arts & Entertainment Editor Rick Eymer, Assistant Sports Editor Chris Kenrick, Gennady Sheyner, Staff Writers Sue Dremann, Staff Writer, Special Sections Editor Karla Kane, Editorial Assistant Veronica Weber, Staff Photographer Jeanne Aufmuth, Dale Bentson, Colin Becht, Peter Canavese, Kit Davey, Iris Harrell, Sheila Himmel, Kevin Kirby, Jack McKinnon, Renata Polt, Jeanie Forte Smith, Susan Tavernetti, Robert Taylor, Contributors John Squire, Mike Lata, Editorial Interns DESIGN Shannon Corey, Design Director Raul Perez, Assistant Design Director Linda Atilano, Diane Haas, Scott Peterson, Paul Llewellyn, Senior Designers Laura Don, Gary Vennarucci, Designers

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450 CAMBRIDGE AVE, PALO ALTO, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

It will be dramatic. —Catherine Martineau, head of the nonprofit Canopy, on the expected results of Saturday’s replanting of California Avenue. See story on page 3.

Around Town anyone else gives their hardearned money away to these folks, who are not turning your donations over to any charity,�

George wrote.

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ART, BUT NO CIGAR ... The average Joe may not be able to view some of Anthony Montanino’s paintings — the ones owned by Madonna and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger — but anyone can check out the works he currently has on exhibit at the Stanford Video studio at 691 Pampas Lane on campus.

Canvas clearly isn’t enough for this artist’s vision. Eighteen of the pieces on display are cigar-box paintings, many depicting Bay Area landmarks. The marquee at San Francisco’s Roxie Theatre fits on a cigar box, as does the ocean at Pacific Grove. As for Schwarzenegger, he’s said to own a cigar-box painting of the California State Capitol. The exhibition runs through the end of February, with a reception set for Feb. 5 from 4 to 6 p.m. More information is posted at www.anthonymontanino.com.

FUNDRAISING SCAM ... Midtown Residents Association Vice-Chair Annette Ashton is passing along a warning from a neighbor, George, to residents about door-to-door scammers spotted in the neighborhood: A young man knocked on a resident’s door saying he lives in Fremont and is raising money to pay for a trip to London with his San Francisco State class, she wrote in a recent e-mail newsletter. The organization is a known scam company that transports groups of “salespeople� by SUV or van to targeted areas for the purpose of selling books or magazines door to door. They often trade on the names of local charities as a hook to potential buyers. “Please alert your fellow neighbors before

GETTING AROUND TOWN? ...

Who knows better than a person with physical challenges how challenging it can be to get on or off a bus? The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is looking for three county residents to serve on the Committee for Transit Accessibility, which advises the VTA on accessibility of bus, light-rail and paratransit services. Further information on just what’s required, besides attending quarterly meetings of the 21-member committee in an ADA-accessible room in San Jose, can be found online at www.vta.org or by calling 408321-5680 or e-mailing board.secretary@vta.org.

THE NAME GAME ... The Palo Alto City Council on Monday night voted unanimously to name a 2,812-square-foot plaza next to the High Street garage after Anna Zschokke, one of Palo Alto’s first residents and a founder of Palo Alto’s public-school system — but not without considerable discussion. City Hall watchdog Herb Borock questioned council members about the legality of the proposal, which called for dedicating the plaza as a public “pocket park.� City staff said that the council could vote on naming the plaza even without dedicating the plaza as a park. According to documents that accompanied the proposal, the Palo Alto Historical Association and City Historian Steve Staiger filed an application to name the plaza after Zschokke in October 2009. Zschokke was one of five persons of historical importance considered when Heritage Park was named. The name “Heritage� was chosen because the historical association could not decide on which of the five should be honored. One council member joked about the park’s name not becoming a hyphenation of all five historical persons. Councilman Larry Klein said he wanted further discussion in the future about how city properties are named. N

Upfront

Palo Alto Historical Association presents a public program

COMMUNITY

“Lucie Stern and Her Boy Scouts�

After fifth teen death on tracks, efforts toward ‘safety net’ press on Leaders praise family’s openness on son’s mental illness

Presenter:

by Chris Kenrick and Sue Dremann alo Alto leaders this week expressed sympathy and appreciation to the family of 19year-old Brian Taylor, who died on the Caltrain tracks last Friday, for publicly stating their son had been under treatment for a diagnosed mental illness.

Though deeply discouraged by the fifth teen train death in Palo Alto in eight months, school and city leaders said they would press on with an elaborate community “safety net� they have developed to identify and help troubled teens and address conditions at the tracks.

The effort, dubbed Project Safety Net, involves up to 20 local agencies in education, mental health support and track monitoring. “We’re all deeply saddened by the suicide we had this past weekend, and I commend the courage of Mrs. Taylor in being honest about her son’s mental illness,� school Superintendent Kevin Skelly said. “This is a reminder of the importance of our work around the stigma of mental illness and educating our staff about signs of mental illness.�

In a statement, the family of Brian Taylor, a bright and talented Eagle Scout, described their son’s fouryear struggle with mental illness, eventually diagnosed as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. “The first, unrecognized symptoms of Brian’s illness were repetitive, looping thoughts during his sophomore year in high school,� said the family, who lived in Palo Alto for 16 years before moving to Granite Bay. In the two months before his death, Brian had spent most of his time at the UCLA and Stanford medical centers, where his family said he received “excellent care.�

P

“His acute illness affected every aspect of his life,� they said.

School officials were relieved in this case to halt speculation over other possible school-related causes of the tragedy.

Teen mental health is a strong focus of the “safety net� team. National research has found that up to 90 percent of suicide victims had a diagnosable mental health condition at the time they died.

Palo Alto school officials said this week they are continuing to identify students who may be st r uggling, and a number have been hospitalized.

Brian Taylor The school district also has organized an upcoming breakfast for mental health professionals who are lending their time to suicide-prevention efforts.

The district also has organized training sessions for teachers, staff and others in a suicide-prevention method known as QPR, which stands for “question, persuade and refer.�

The two-hour training, used at Foothill College and Stanford University, teaches people to be “gatekeepers,� learning to “recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade and refer someone to help.�

Rob de Geus, division manager of city Recreation and Golf Services and a member of the school/city liaison committee, said the gatekeeper program and training is being

extended to staff at the city’s Teen Center and camp programs. “This is a serious community issue and will take everyone working together,� de Geus said.

He urged the community to utilize the Project Safety Net site, which has links to local mental health agencies and other professionals where families, teens and individuals can get help and answers to their questions.

The website is at http://tinyurl.com/ PAsafetynet.

The site outlines numerous education, prevention and intervention strategies, from resilience-skill building to reducing harassment to support for those who have attempted suicide.

The Palo Alto Police Department continues to employ a full-time crossing guard to patrol the West Meadow Drive train crossing. The objective is to continue hiring the guard at least through the school year, de Geus said.

Hiring security isn’t in the city’s budget, so the police department has set up a Track Watch donation site on the Project Safety Net website.

So far, about half of the $90,000 needed has been raised, he said.

Contributions can also be made through Barbara Teixeira c/o Safety Net Fund, Palo Alto Police Dept., 275 Forest Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301.

Meanwhile, Track Watch volunteers continue to patrol the Charleston Avenue crossing, and more volunteers are needed. People can sign up at http://paloaltotrackwatch. weebly.com/. N Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be e-mailed at ckenrick@paweekly.com. Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

Saturday memorial set for Brian Taylor Charitable donations will support schizophrenia research

A

memorial service for Brian Bennion Taylor, 19, will be held Saturday, Jan. 30, at noon in Menlo Park at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Menlo Park Stake Center, at 1105 Valparaiso Ave. Taylor, who died Friday night on the Caltrain tracks in Palo Alto, was a 2008 graduate of Gunn High School. He had been a varsity wrestler and tennis player, the service chair for the Gunn student body and a homecoming prince in his senior year. He had been an Eagle Scout and received a gold President’s Volunteer Service Award for giving more than 250 hours of service within a year’s time. (See obituary on page 13 for more on Taylor.)

His family believes his death was caused by his mental illness, according to a website they posted this week. Taylor had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizo-

phrenia, they said. “The first unrecognized symptoms of Brian’s illness were repetitive, looping thoughts during his sophomore year in high school,� the family said. “School became increasingly difficult, and some relationships were more strained as he had initial symptoms of a mood disorder.�

He began his freshman year at Brigham Young University in fall 2008. However, his escalating illness led him to return home after several months.

For the past year, the family has lived on a 240-acre cattle ranch in Granite Bay, Calif. Taylor worked at a sandwich shop there and attended Sierra College. During the last two months, he was receiving care at UCLA and Stanford medical centers. “We rely on our faith, which assures that Brian is with loved ones and a caring God while we wait to

see our treasured son again in the next life,� the Taylors wrote.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that charitable donations be made to The Brian Bennion Taylor Legacy Fund. Contributions are taxdeductible and will fund research on schizophrenia as well as provide mental health support for those in need.

Contributions can be made by check, payable to Deseret Trust Company, for The Brian Bennion Taylor Legacy Fund and mailed to: Deseret Trust Company, P.O. Box 11558, Salt Lake City, UT 841470558.

Information on making contributions in the form of stocks, bonds or mutual funds can be found at www.

BrianBennionTaylor.com.

An interment service will take place next Wednesday in Provo, Utah. N — Palo Alto Weekly staff

Larry Christenson Lucie Stern, Boy Scout advocate

Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 2pm Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 MiddleďŹ eld Road, Palo Alto 2EFRESHMENTS s .O ADMISSION CHARGE

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Upfront CITY COUNCIL

Happy with city? Depends where you live Palo Alto City Council focuses on areas needing improvement rather than feel-good items ocusing on Palo Alto’s weaknesses rather than its strengths, the City Council Monday night wrestled with how it could improve services and programs rather than bask in the city’s overall successes.

The focus of discussion was the city auditor’s 110-page “Service Efforts and Accomplishments Report�

(SEA) for 2009.

The report includes results of a survey of 424 residents by the National Research Center. A strong majority believes the city tops the list of local jurisdictions in most areas of service and governance. The report also said the city is above the benchmark in welcoming citizen involvement and listening to citizens.

But council members acknowledged disparities between the more positive report results and public perception, which at times rates the city much lower.

Council members will have a retreat Saturday to set priorities for 2010, at which time they will discuss the report in greater detail.

Only 50 percent of survey respon-

F Real Estate Matters BEYOND THE LOUSY LOANS Many lenders in recent years have written sub-prime mortgages that could be expected to default.

However, foreclosure is nothing new, and there are myriad reasons that a homeowner might be facing dire straits.

Challenges might include job loss, bad health, divorce, or payment rate increases, or simply increased cost of living outpacing income. Whatever the reasons, the best way to avoid foreclosure is to be well educated and prepared before making a home purchase.

If default appears inevitable, know that there is help available, with a short sale being the last resort for resolution. Such a transaction is called short, because the home is sold for less than the amount remaining on the mortgage.

If you're facing foreclosure, contact your lender's loss mitigation department immediately. While you are in the midst of negotiations,

keep a log of all phone calls - the date, time, contact person and discussion. Lenders are overwhelmed right now, so be patient and don't expect an immediate answer.

Whether it's a loan adjustment or short sale, there is a solution to the problem. Your lender and your real estate professional are here to help.

Jackie Schoelerman is a Realtor with Alain Pinel Realtors and a Real Estate Specialist for Seniors.

Call Jackie for real estate advice.

Principal

(continued from page 3)

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Look inside today’s insert for savings.

“powerful work� being done at the school and stated her pride in the school’s constant push for excellence.

While some students and parents praised her no-nonsense approach to the job, others criticized McEvoy throughout her tenure for what they called her “punitive� discipline style and unilateral decision making.

When she arrived at Paly, she directed teachers to strictly enforce an attendance policy to discourage students from cutting class; she changed how schedule changes could be made, favoring parental approval; and she expected a policy against sexually suggestive dancing be enforced at school dances.

In 2007, a conflict between McEvoy and history instructor Mike McGovern, who used to mount student-run historical re-enactments, riled students.

by Sue Dremann dents think the city is doing a “good or excellent� job of community engagement, a fact not lost on council members. “We’re not doing well in civic engagement. It was our priority,� said Councilman Greg Schmid, referring to the council’s top three priorities for 2009, which also included economic health and environmental protection.

TALK ABOUT IT

www.PaloAltoOnline.com What should Palo Alto’s priorities be in 2010? Share your thoughts on Town Square on Palo Alto Online.

Mayor Pat Burt said the survey measures perceptions rather than facts. He pointed to how residents residing in different ZIP codes had different evaluations of city performance.

Residents in south Palo Alto ZIP code 94306 had a lower sense of the safety of downtown Palo Alto than persons living in 94301, which includes downtown.

Most recently, her handling of suspensions following an Oct. 27 egg fight between Paly juniors and seniors drew both ire and praise. After imposing five-day suspensions, McEvoy reduced them to one-day suspensions and said she would expunge them entirely if students stay on good behavior for the rest of the year.

Palo Alto lawyer William D. Ross then threatened the Board of Education with a lawsuit if it fails to expunge the suspensions immediately, saying the discipline record would unfairly interfere with students’ ability to win athletic scholarships.

Last week, Skelly thanked McEvoy for her leadership at Paly. “Under Dr. McEvoy’s leadership, numerous measures of school success improved, including California standard-test results, SAT scores and Advanced Placement test participation,� Skelly said. “Dr. McEvoy also led the school through a successful accreditation process and the completion of the school’s master plan for facility im-

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“That’s a red flag� as to how many other things may or may not be based on perception rather than reality, he said.

Burt said the disparity could reflect the high rate of new development in south Palo Alto, which could have shaded residents’ perception of other city services.

The survey found just 43 percent of south Palo Alto residents felt the overall direction Palo Alto is taking is good or excellent, compared to 65 percent for persons living in ZIP codes 94301 and 94304. In south Palo Alto, only 34 percent approved of land use, planning and zoning compared to 53 percent in other parts of the city.

Councilman Yiaway Yeh said the results point to a need for greater community outreach. “The further you get from City Hall, the less satisfied you get with city services and programs. It is striking,� Yeh said, pointing out the trend exists in almost all areas except one. (continued on page 8)

provements. “I want to thank Jacquie for all her efforts on behalf of (Palo Alto Unified School District) children, youth and families over the last two-anda-half years and wish her the best in her future endeavors,� he said.

Skelly said he has yet to decide on the composition of a search committee but wants to begin immediately in competing for top talent. He said the search process would solicit input from teachers and students.

McEvoy’s departure coincides with other high-level exits from the school district, leaving Skelly with an opportunity to reshape his leadership team.

Many of those retiring or resigning had served many years in Palo Alto, he noted. “We’re a relatively new team, and it’s a lot of change,� said Skelly, who is finishing his third year with the district. “We want to make sure we keep some historical knowledge within the organization. “Finding quality individuals is one of the most important things we can do to strengthen the organization. Other districts are out there looking for candidates, too,� he said Wednesday.

He is advertising nationally to replace Carol Zepecki, director of special education and student services, a 12-year district veteran, and Linda Common, assistant superintendent of administrative services, a former Woodside High School principal who joined the district just last summer.

Secondary Director Burton Cohen will retire in June, and Elementary Director Becki Cohn-Vargas has not been replaced since resigning last fall.

Skelly said he may combine the directorships of elementary and secondary education into a single position, director of K-12 education. N

Upfront

Neighborhoods A roundup of neighborhood news edited by Sue Dremann

AROUND THE BLOCK

JUANA RUN? ... The 14th annual Juana Run, which benefits the Terman PTA and Gunn Sports Boosters, takes place Feb. 20. The run includes 8K, 1-mile, kids’ and specialneeds runs. A pancake breakfast follows the 8K race. Online advance registration at www. juanarun.org is recommended, especially to get a T-shirt, and ends Feb. 18. Information hotline: 650-599-3434.

Send announcements of neighborhood events, meetings and news to Sue Dremann, Neighborhoods editor, at sdremann@paweekly.com. Or talk about your neighborhood news on Town Square at www.

PaloAltoOnline.com.

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Plastic bags filled with debris and other garbage litter the entrance to the Barron Park neighborhood, off El Camino Real.

2010 PREMIERE SEASON

Palo Alto to get tough over trash hazards

at the Oshman Family JCC

Owner of vacant lot and commercial property could face fines for noncompliance

Arts CafĂŠ

by Sue Dremann

M

ounds of tree branches, trash, bags of garbage — and even a dead body once — littering a vacant lot and adjacent business have Palo Alto officials and Barron Park residents fed up with a property owner, residents said.

After more than a year of spotty compliance by the owner, the city is considering further actions to keep the area clean.

The lot is next to Palo Alto Tailoring on El Camino Real, just south of Barron Avenue. It’s where the decomposing body of a homeless man was found in March 2009.

Residents said they don’t feel safe, especially since last spring when the body was found. “It is a serious problem. It attracts really unsafe activities. We’ve all been calling about that lot for a really long time. The person will not clean up anything. It is so beyond a health (and blight) issue,� resident Lisa Altieri said.

The vacant lot is one of four parcels owned by Sarah Weigh, a 90year-old Los Altos resident. Weigh also owns a corrugated-metal building at 505 Barron Ave., where trash has also accumulated, according to residents.

Neighbors said the tenant at 505 Barron, Barron Property Management, regularly stacks mounds of debris-filled black plastic trash bags in front of the building, which remain for up to two months at a time. “There is a lot of construction storage. A few weeks ago there was

a pile of garbage bags 6 feet high and 15 feet long in the right-of-way,� said Wendy Parry, whose home faces the pile. “I’ve called code enforcement so many times I feel like a pest. People need to know it’s a neighborhood and a community and not to use the property as a corporate yard.�

An employee of Barron Property Management, who declined to give his name, said the company rents storage space at 505 Barron. He denied the problem has been ongoing.

The garbage bags of debris contained leaves and branches from the vacant lot, which a man from the tailor shop asked them to help clean up, he said. The city instructed the property owner to clean up the lot after the homeless man was found dead in March.

Employees put the bags out for recycling pickup, but the city wouldn’t take them away because it doesn’t pick up leaves in plastic bags, the man said.

So employees dumped the yard waste into city recycling bins each week until the pile was eliminated, he said. “It took five or six weeks to get rid of it all,� he said.

He conceded that piles within the lot — remains of the homeless encampment — have attracted dumping. A collapsed shed owned by the tailor shop was also part of the pile, he said. “Once the pile was there, it attracted other dumpers. There was (continued on page 11)

UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS

TOP BILLING ... City Manager James Keene will be the guest speaker at the Barron Park annual meeting on Sunday, Jan. 31, at 2 p.m. The meeting is open to all Barron Park residents and takes place at the Barron Park Elementary School multi-purpose room, 800 Barron Ave., Palo Alto.

“There‘s no place like home.�

Don Feria

SPEAKING OF CHARITY ...

Neighborhood groups have been successfully gathering clothing, food and other items for victims of the Haiti earthquake and local people in need. The Nixon Elementary School PTA is sponsoring a Haitian Relief garage sale on Saturday, Jan. 30, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Nixon Elementary School theater, 1711 Stanford Ave., Stanford. Donations of gently used toys, furniture, household items and outerwear are accepted through Jan. 29 from 2:30 to 3 p.m.

Organizers are Suzie Lincoln, suzielincoln@yahoo.com, and Nikole Manou, jnmanou@ yahoo.com. Barron Park residents donated 433 pounds of food for their Martin Luther King Day of Service food drive for Second Harvest Food Bank and donated to the Red Cross for Haiti. Duveneck/St. Francis residents have made financial contributions to the American Red Cross and Salvation Army and plan to gather clothing and other items to be sent to Haiti when needed.

Drop in for our contemporary concerts featuring musicians performing in a casual atmosphere.

Jeff Sanford Quartet 2/ 4, 7:30PM Start the weekend early and relax with a night of live jazz by this Bay Area favorite.

MusiCA 3/ 4, 7:30PM The Israeli band MusiCA has taken the Bay Area by storm with their lively covers and originals.

Jeff Sanford Quartet

MusiCA

For our full schedule and ticket information, please visit www.paloaltojcc.org/arts

Oshman Family JCC 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, Ca 94303 (650) 223-8699 | paloaltojcc.org

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Audit report (continued from page 6)

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Council members agreed key areas to focus on would include outreach to citizens and emergency services.

General Fund expenditures for the Fire Department in fiscal year 2008-09 were $23.4 million, or down 3 percent. The Police Department budget was down 4 percent, to $28.3 million in 2009, according to the report.

Council member Gail Price said she was concerned about “the graying of Palo Alto� and the growing need for emergency services. She wants to discuss retention and future expansion of emergency services during Saturday’s retreat. “I know the (new) police and emergency services building is off the list,� she said. But in some rare cases cities have found multifaceted funding to expand public-safety centers, she said.

She questioned whether a reduction in emergency services and preparation is prudent, given Palo Alto’s proximity to earthquake faults and its aging population.

The council retreat is open to the public and will be held Saturday (Jan. 30) from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Palo Alto Unified School District Board Room, 25 Churchill Ave. The entire report and citizensurvey results are available on the city’s website at www.cityofpalo alto.org. N

Corrections

A Jan. 22 story about Judge Lucy Koh stated Mariano-Florentino Cuellar is a top advisor on immigration issues to the Obama administration. Cuellar is special assistant to the president for justice and regulatory policy, an advisor on criminal justice and regulatory matters as well as immigration issues.

To request a correction, contact Managing Editor Jocelyn Dong at 650-326-8210, jdong@ paweekly.com or P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302.

Valentine’s Day Celebration A Free Event for Seniors and Caregivers Join in the festivities as we host a Valentine’s Day Celebration.

At this exciting event you can mingle with neighbors, residents and guests. You can also enjoy festive Valentine’s fare and delight in a variety of themed entertainment for all ages, including a concert by pianist Frederick Moyer.

While you’re here, meet our team, tour our community and find out what we do to make our community a place seniors are proud to call home. At Webster House we are comitted to providing seniors, families and caregivers with innovative senior living and care options.

Friday, February 12, 2010 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

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A round-up of

Palo Alto government action this week

City Council (Jan. 25) Auditor’s annual report: The council deferred in-depth discussion to the annual retreat on Saturday, Jan. 30, on the annual Service Efforts and Accomplishments Report for fiscal year 2009. Yes: Unanimous Plaza naming: The council agreed to name a plaza adjacent to the High Street garage Anna Zschokke Plaza. Yes: Unanimous 2010 Federal Appropriations requests: The council approved the city’s 2010 federal and state legislative program. Yes: Unanimous Salinity reduction: The council adopted a resolution establishing a salinity-reduction policy for recycled water. Yes: Burt, Espinosa, Klein, Price, Scharff, Schmid, Shepherd No: Holman, Yeh High-speed rail funding: The council appropriated $88,000 from the Council Contingency Account to fund efforts and a lobbyist related to high-speed rail issues. Yes: Unanimous Budget transfer: The council adopted an ordinance authorizing the closing of the 2009 fiscal year budget and reinstated an $809,000 transfer from the General Fund budget to the Technology Fund in fiscal year 2010. Yes: Unanimous

Parks and Recreation Commission (Jan. 26) Lytton Plaza: The commission voted 4-2 not to change the name of Lytton Plaza to Thoits Plaza. Yes: Dykwel, Markevitch No: Crommie, Davidson, Losch, Walsh Absent: King Youth and teen health: The commission received an update on the Community Taskforce for Youth and Teen Health and Wellness. Action: None

Board of Education (Jan. 26) School building: The board approved schematic designs for a two-story mathEnglish classroom building, a world-languages building and a new gymnasium at Gunn High School. The board also approved schematic designs for a two-story math-social studies building and a new media-arts building at Palo Alto High School.

Yes: Unanimous

Planning & Transportation Commission (Jan. 27) High-speed rail: The commission held a study session on the proposed state highspeed rail project. Action: None Comprehensive Plan: The commission reviewed the community services and facilities element of the Comprehensive Plan. Action: None

Public Agenda PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to meet in closed session to discuss labor issues, followed by a joint meeting with the Human Relations Commission. The council will hold public hearings on the “private street� ordinance and a water-supply assessment for the proposed Stanford Medical Center expansion. The closed session will begin at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 1, followed by a joint meeting with the HRC at 7:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

HISTORIC RESOURCES BOARD ... The board plans to discuss a proposed restoration of a Queen Anne residence at 398 Addison Ave., including a new one-car garage and comprehensive site plan, and to review the 2009 Annual Report of repair and maintenance at the Children’s Library at 1276 Harriet St. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

UTILITY ADVISORY COMMISSION ... The commission plans to hear an update on the preliminary analysis of 10-year electric efficiency goals for the period 2011-20, among other agenda items. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

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ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD ... The board is scheduled to review plans for a hotel and restaurant at 1700 Embarcadero Road (Ming’s) and a minor addition and remodel of Taco Bell at 910 Charleston Road. The board also plans to hold study sessions on an emergency water well at Eleanor Pardee Park, 801 Center Drive, and to review the concept plan for expanding the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. The meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

DIRECTOR’S HEARING ... The hearing will cover plans to create three condominium units at 639 Homer Ave. and to subdivide one parcel into two at 1449 University Ave. The meeting will be held at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

PUBLIC ART COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss artwork by Mitchell Johnson to be included in the city collection; request funds for an artists’ lecture series; discuss the jury process for selecting a fountain design for California Avenue; and follow up on a recent retreat. The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.). N

t9 h A al 1

Upfront

News Digest

GOT WRINKLES?

Dalai Lama to visit Stanford, East Palo Alto

A city where trees make news A group of “tree heroes� were recognized last week by the Palo Alto-based tree-advocacy organization Canopy, which held a reception to honor the memory of Betty Meltzer, a longtime Canopy leader who launched the “Dream of a Thousand Trees� to be planted along the Palo Alto stretch of El Camino Real — complementing a similar project in Menlo Park.

Awards presented included: s 4HE !RNOLD 3OFORENKO !WARD TO TWO FINANCE PEOPLE FORMER #ITY Councilman Jack Morton, who provided financial advice and services to Canopy through his firm, Morton & Associates, and Bob Golton, business manager of the Palo Alto Unified School District, for helping save large oaks at Gunn High School and working on greener landscaping plans overall. s ! SPECIAL AWARD TO THE !D (OC #ALIFORNIA 4REE #ITIZENS 'ROUP FOR “focusing attention on the sudden removal of California Avenue trees� and facilitating “a creative tree replacement plan for this vital street� in an effort spearheaded by Fred Balin, a College Terrace resident. s h/UT ON A ,IMBv AWARDS WERE PRESENTED TO THREE PERSONS "OB AND Kay Schauer who as longtime volunteers completed the most surveys in a citywide tree survey; and Annette Glanckopf Ashton “for her outstanding efforts as a ‘Neighborhood Tree Ambassador’� on Bryant Street in the Midtown area, hosting “dozens of muddy volunteers in her driveway� last January and preparing a slide show for the City Council. s ! h3TUDENT &ORESTER !WARDv WENT TO *AVIER -AGANA OF THE %AST 0ALO Alto Tree Initiative Project during his three years with the Canopy Youth Staff, for his “digging, planting, staking, tying, pruning, training, watering, weeding, mulching and surveying� work.

Bob Meltzer’s full remarks are on www.PaloAltoOnline.com. N — Jay Thorwaldson

Palo Verde Elementary principal to retire Lupe Garcia, the principal at Palo Verde Elementary School in Palo Alto, will retire at the end of the school year, Superintendent Kevin Skelly announced Tuesday night at the Board of Education meeting.

Garcia was hired in 1973 to teach Spanish at Jordan Middle School. In 1979 he started teaching Spanish at Palo Alto High and Wilbur Junior High, eventually working at Gunn High as an instructional supervisor, Paly as a teacher on special assignment, and Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School (formerly Wilbur) as an assistant principal. In 1997 he became the principal of Juana Briones Elementary and later served as principal at Jordan, El Carmelo Elementary, and beginning in 2008, at Palo Verde. “That certainly is a huge loss for the district. He has many, many years of service,� Skelly told the board.

In addition, Barron Park Principal Cathy Howard is taking a medical leave until the end of the current school year, Skelly said. Teacher Magdalena Fittoria will serve as interim principal.

The announcement follows the notice that six other administrators are retiring, including Gerald Larvey, assistant principal at J. L. Stanford Middle School (JLS); Carmen Giedt, principal at Terman Middle School; Carol Zepecki, the district’s director of special education and student services; Linda Common, assistant superintendent of administrative services; Burton Cohen, the district’s director of secondary education; and Barbara Lancon, summer school coordinator. N — Palo Alto Weekly staff

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The Dalai Lama will visit Stanford University and East Palo Alto’s Costano School in October to remind all those who listen that compassion deserves a priority place in the world.

Stanford announced Monday that Tibet’s exiled political and spiritual leader will deliver an Oct. 14 talk on “the centrality of compassion in human life and society.�

In East Palo Alto, he will meet with all seventh- and eighth-grade students in the Ravenswood City School District, which serves East Palo Alto and eastern Menlo Park.

The Dalai Lama will spend two days at Stanford at the invitation of School of Medicine Dean Philip Pizzo.

On Oct. 15, he will participate in a day-long conference on “Scientific Explorations of Compassion and Altruism,� sponsored by the medical school’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education.

The Dalai Lama helped pay for the creation of the research center with some of his book proceeds, said Rev. Scotty McLennan, dean of the Office for Religious Life.

Pizzo said the Dalai Lama’s participation will “help further promote our understanding of compassion and altruism in scientific, medical and spiritual domains. “His Holiness the Dalai Lama is one of the world’s most renowned and respected spiritual and moral voices and has inspired generations and millions of people throughout the world about the fundamental underpinnings of a caring and compassionate life.�

The Dalai Lama also will participate in several “small, private gatherings� with groups, including Stanford’s Ho Center for Buddhist Studies. N — Chris Kenrick

As part of our celebration of 80

February 25th, 2010 A wine and hors d’oeuvres evening with Trek Travel

years in business Palo Alto Bicycles would like to invite you to our ďŹ rst in a year long series of events

Please be our guest for an evening of wonderful wines and food from around the world and an extraordinary presentation by Trek Travel. The evening’s festivities will culminate with a drawing for a FREE TREK TRAVEL Trip (Three days/Two nights) for Two to the Napa Wine Country Space is limited Reservations Required Sign up on our website www.paloaltobicycles.com or call 650-328-7411

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Upfront Does your student think outside of the box?

Could he or she be happier in a different setting?

Consider making a change mid-year if your child’s school is not a good match, because a year is a long time in the life of a child.

ACCEPTING TRANSFER STUDENTS IN GRADES

9-12 FOR THIS YEAR

Online This Week

These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news or click on “News� in the left, green column.

No name change for Lytton Plaza — yet Palo Alto’s Lytton Plaza remains Lytton Plaza — at least for now.

Whether or not to change the name of the corner at University Avenue and Emerson Street to Thoits Plaza was turned down 4-2 by Palo Alto’s Parks and Recreation Commission Tuesday night. (Posted Jan. 27 at 3:11 p.m.)

‘Hot Zone’ author kicks off Stegner lecture series Locals have a chance to hear from Richard Preston on Feb. 8, when the best-selling author gives a talk that kicks off the annual Wallace Stegner Lecture Series at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. (Posted Jan. 27 at 2:55 p.m.)

Knife-wielding man robs Palo Alto Goodwill A Santa Clara man was arrested in Palo Alto Monday afternoon minutes after allegedly robbing a Goodwill store and threatening a security guard with a knife, Palo Alto police Officer Mariana Villaescusa said. (Posted Jan. 27 at 12:34 p.m.)

Mountain View woman mugged walking to work

INFORMATION SESSION with Doug Thompson, Ph.D, Head of School

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A Mountain View woman talking on her cell phone while walking to work Monday morning was attacked by a man who slapped her and took the phone, police reported. (Posted Jan. 27 at 10:34 a.m.)

New student-info system coming to schools A new data system to track students’ grades, discipline records and household information will be in place throughout the Palo Alto Unified School District this fall. (Posted Jan. 27 at 9:20 a.m.)

Man gets 13 years for firing into Menlo Park home A man accused of using a semi-automatic, 9 millimeter handgun in 2007 to fire several bullets into a Menlo Park home was sentenced to 13 years in state prison Jan. 25 in a plea agreement with San Mateo County prosecutors. One of the bullets narrowly missed a child. (Posted Jan. 27 at 9:19 a.m.)

Beauty,Health &Fitness COMING IN FEBRUARY!

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Police: Would-be burglars tried to run down cop Mountain View police say a group of men tried to run over a police officer in their getaway car after attempting to steal liquor from a Mountain View Rite Aide store Monday evening. (Posted Jan. 26 at 12:27

Devincenzi lashes back at councilman’s criticism Former California Avenue business leader Ronna Devincenzi told the Palo Alto City Council Monday night that she is being unfairly blamed for the clearcutting of trees in the business district last fall — aiming her comments at Councilman Greg Scharff. (Posted Jan. 26 at 9:39 a.m.)

Car crashes into house in Menlo Park A car crashed into a house in Menlo Park Monday afternoon, but according to initial reports nobody was hurt, Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said. (Posted Jan. 25 at 4:56 p.m.)

Don’t miss this opportunity to reach this market with your multi-media message!

Former Daily editor takes plea deal in porn case Brian Bothun, a former editor for the Palo Alto Daily News and former reporter for the Daily Post, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of possession of pornography on Friday (Jan. 22), said San Mateo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. (Posted Jan. 25 at 11:26 a.m.)

PUBLICATION DATES:

Simitian: State school budget not reality-based

THE ALMANAC Wednesday, February 24, 2010

This year’s state budget for education is the “least reality-based proposal� state Sen. Joe Simitian has seen from the governor in the 10 years he’s been in state office, he told a packed audience in Palo Alto Saturday. (Posted Jan. 25 at 10:07 a.m.)

PALO ALTO WEEKLY & MOUNTAIN VIEW VOICE Friday, February 26, 2010 For more information, contact your advertising rep or call Walter Kupiec, Vice President, Sales & Marketing at 650.223.6570 or e-mail: wkupiec@embarcaderopublishing.com

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An unidentified driver fled after crashing a stolen car into a tree in a residential Los Altos neighborhood early Sunday morning, Los Altos police Captain Andy Galea said. (Posted Jan. 27 at 9:09 a.m.)

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Stolen car crashes in Los Altos, driver flees

SamTrans fares increasing Feb. 1 SamTrans will hike its fares beginning Monday, Feb. 1, the transportation agency announced. (Posted Jan. 25 at 8:28 a.m.)

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Upfront 2010 Wallace Stegner Lecture Series (continued from page 7)

On a weekday in early January, a drive through revealed several dried Christmas trees, produce and other matter stacked against a rickety plywood fence directly connected to a building. Several fires have started in the alley, according to Altieri.

The alley’s ownership status is in limbo, according to Williams. Altieri and others are spearheading a campaign to have the city take it over. “Neighborhood safety is the first priority here. We are working with the city on a long-term solution including upgrades and the city taking long-term responsibility,� she said. N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.

VENTURES

INTO THE NATURAL WORLD

Richard Preston New York Times

The Wild Trees

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a couch someone threw back there.

Two months ago, one or more people dumped a load of furniture in the alley,� he said.

Curtis Williams, city director of planning and community environment, said the city has worked with the property owner for more than a year, with limited success. “Historically, we’ve had difficulty trying to get it cleaned up. This is a problem throughout the city. Occasionally we have lots that are not kept up. The city code doesn’t allow us to do anything — it’s not a specific violation. It’s more of a nuisance issue,� he said.

It might be time to start further action against the property owner, he said. The city could give the owner a clean-up notice, and if nothing is done it can impose a fine. In extreme cases, a court order can force the clean-up, and the city can put a lien against the property.

The owner, Weigh, could not be reached for comment. On Wednesday, the owner of Palo Alto Tailoring, who said her name is Sep, said Weigh is ill but that the problem is being handled.

Williams said he will ask code enforcement to step up patrol of the area.

Altieri has been working with Williams and other city officials to clean up another hazardous spot — an abandoned alley that runs behind

the lot and adjacent retail strip and south behind Happy Donuts, south of Military Way. The alley has been a source of frustration, noise and criminal activities for years, residents said.

Someone has put up “no parking� signs in the section of the alley south of Military Way. It was so choked with cars at one point that the fire department objected because trucks could not get through, according to Lynnie Melena, president of the Barron Park Association.

But there were at least four cars parked in the alley in front of the signs on Tuesday, she said.

The alley appears to still be a potential fire hazard.

Judges

Call for Entries

VERONICA WEBER

Veronica Weber, a Los Angeles native, first began working at the Palo Alto Weekly in 2006 as a photography intern. Following the internship, she was a photographer for The Almanac in Menlo Park. She is currently the Weekly staff photographer responsible for covering daily assignments and producing video and multimedia projects for PaloAltoOnline.com. She has a BA in Journalism from San Francisco State University and currently resides in San Francisco.

19th Annual Palo Alto Weekly Photo Contest

Categories and Prizes U PENINSULA PEOPLE

UĂŠ ĂŠ*

ANGELA BUENNING FILO

-1 ĂŠ -

ADULT

1st Place – $250 Cash, $100 Gift Certificate to University Art, and a One-year Membership to Palo Alto Art Center 2nd Place – $200 Cash, $100 Gift Certificate to Jungle Digital 3rd Place – $100 Cash, $100 Gift Certificate to Bear Images

ADULT

1st Place – $250 Cash, $100 Gift Certificate to University Art, and a One-year Membership to Palo Alto Art Center 2nd Place – $200 Cash, $100 Gift Certificate to Jungle Digital 3rd Place – $100 Cash, $100 Gift Certificate to Bear Images

1st Place - $100 Cash 2nd Place - $50 Gift Certificate to University Art 3rd Place - $25 Gift Certificate to University Art

YOUTH

*Los Altos north to San Francisco

YOUTH

*Los Altos north to San Francisco

1st Place - $100 Cash 2nd Place - $50 Gift Certificate to University Art 3rd Place - $25 Gift Certificate to University Art

Angela Buenning Filo photographs landscapes in transition, most recently focusing on Silicon Valley and Bangalore, India. Her photographs have been exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the San Jose Museum of Art. She teaches at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto.

DAVID HIBBARD

U VIEWS BEYOND THE PENINSULA ADULT

1st Place – $250 Cash, $100 Gift Certificate to University Art, and a One-year Membership to Palo Alto Art Center 2nd Place – $200 Cash, $100 Gift Certificate to Jungle Digital 3rd Place – $100 Cash, $100 Gift Certificate to Bear Images

YOUTH

*Any image of people or places shot outside the Peninsula

1st Place - $100 Cash 2nd Place - $50 Gift Certificate to University Art 3rd Place - $25 Gift Certificate to University Art

Trash hazards

ENTRY DEADLINE: April 2, 2010, 5:30pm Entry Form and Rules available at:

www.PaloAltoOnline.com For more information call 650.223.6508 or e-mail photocontest@paweekly.com

David Hibbard, a Menlo Park resident, has photographed natural landscapes and wild places most of his life. He is represented by Modernbook Gallery in Palo Alto. He is the author of, "Natural Gestures," published by Edition One Studios last year.

BRIGITTE CARNOCHAN

In November-December, Moderbook Gallery in Palo Alto will be exhibiting Brigitte's new photographic series "Floating World". Her series "Imagining Then: A Family Story 194147" was recently featured in Color Magazine.

She teaches regularly through the Stanford Continuing Studies Program.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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Eleanor Sprott Boyd Boushey, a member of Portola Valley’s first Town Council, passed away on January 21st at the age of ninety-seven. A memorial service will be held at Christ Church on Sunday, March 7th, at 3 p.m.

Eleanor was an outdoor enthusiast throughout her life, and an early champion of efforts to protect the natural environment. She was born on August 27, 1912 in Los Angeles. At that time, her parents lived in the small mining town of Ray, Arizona, surrounded by the desert. Even as a young girl, she loved wilderness and exploring the hills.

Her parents moved to Hillsborough, California in 1927, and a few years later Eleanor enrolled at Stanford University. A disciplined student, she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, but still found time to explore – and to come to love - the nearby Santa Cruz Mountain foothills, their oak woodlands and groves of towering redwoods.

While Eleanor was in college, her father bought land in the old growth forest along the Klamath River. She helped build a cabin there, and went back many summers with her extended family. She developed a lifelong passion for redwoods, and was a strong advocate for protecting the remaining magnificent forests.

In 1937, she married her first husband, Guy Kimball Dyer. They had two sons, the late Hugh Nathaniel Dyer and Boyd Kimball Dyer (Santa Rosa).

After Kim’s death, Eleanor married a Class of ’33 Stanford classmate, Homer Astley Boushey, in San Francisco in 1941. Homer was at that time a pilot and a Captain in the Army Air Corps (which later became the U.S. Air Force).

Eleanor’s second marriage produced three children: Homer Astley Boushey Jr. (San Francisco) Helen Boushey Pitre (Trinidad, California) and Annette Boushey Holland (Bayside, California).

For the first twenty years of their marriage, Eleanor lived the nomadic life of an Air Force wife, as Homer was stationed at Edwards Field, California, in Okinawa, at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, at Ft. McNair, Virginia, at Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma, Tennessee, and several tours at the Pentagon. She was always an active member of the local community and of the parish of the Episcopal Church wherever Homer’s career took them.

She was also involved in activities for her five energetic children, especially in their education, and took turns as a leader for groups of cub scouts, boy scouts, brownies and girl scouts.

After her husband’s promotion to Brigadier General in the US Air Force and later retirement, they brought their family “home� to California. In 1961, they settled in Portola Valley, which was at that time unincorporated and threatened by a proposed expressway leading through the town to Skyline Boulevard, with subsequent intense development. Eleanor quickly joined the newly formed Committee to Save the Green Foothills. She also joined successful movements to incorporate Portola Valley as a town and to oppose the expressway.

After Portola Valley’s incorporation, Eleanor was elected to the first Town Council and was re-elected several times, once winning 97% of the vote.

She served on the Council for fourteen years, including three terms as mayor, a rare position for women in the 1960s. She has since been affectionately referred to by Portola Valley residents as their “Town Mother.�

She was appointed by Governors Pat Brown and Ronald Reagan to serve on state advisory committees planning scenic highways. In that capacity, she championed the protection of Skyline Boulevard, designated in 1968 as the second California State Scenic Highway.

Eleanor was a life-long proponent of social justice and equal rights for women and minorities. During the “Cold War,� she and Homer became advocates for nuclear disarmament and traveled to the former Soviet Union as ambassadors for peace.

In 1984, Eleanor and Homer moved into a local retirement community, the Sequoias, where they continued to enjoy long walks in the adjacent hills, now the Windy Hills Open Space Preserve. Eleanor lived at the Sequoias for twenty-six years.

Eleanor is remembered for her intelligence, integrity, and devotion to her family as well as for her early leadership in the movement to protect the natural areas, forests, and open space of the San Francisco Bay Area.

She is survived by her younger brother, Robert Mitchell Boyd of San Rafael and by four children. She is also survived by fifteen grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

For anyone wishing to make a memorial gift in honor of Eleanor Boushey, the family suggests donations to Oxfam America or to Save-the-Redwoods League.

PA I D

Transitions Brian Bennion Taylor Brian Bennion Taylor, 19, died Jan. 22 after battling a severe illness.

He was born in San Diego to George and Marian Taylor on Feb. 21, 1990, the oldest brother of nine siblings. After two years in San Diego and Pocatello, Idaho, his family moved to Palo Alto, which became his home for 16 years.

An avid reader, he began to read at age 5. He would wait for the newspaper each morning to study sports statistics, and he conversed with adult fans on the standings, his family said. He attended Hoover Elementary School and was recognized as a gifted student there.

He was adventurous, bright and ambitious, fun-loving, curious and determined, his family recalled.

He was happy as he served others and as he spent time with extended family and friends. His love for athletics and music were contagious, and his warm smile and loyalty were magnets to friends of all ages. He aspired to a career that would use his skills in communication and teaching.

A Gunn High School graduate in 2008, he loved varsity wrestling and tennis. He was an Eagle Scout and he received a gold President’s Volunteer Service Award for giving more than 250 hours of ser-

Russell Schonberg Russell George Schonberg, 83, one of the innovators of high-energy linear accelerators, died of cancer in his home in Los Altos Hills Jan. 22.

He was born in Minneapolis, Minn. As a child he developed a fascination for electronics that he would carry his whole life.

After serving in the Merchant Marines and Navy during World War II, he graduated from Cal Poly with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1950. Not long thereafter

vice within a year’s time.

He was the service chair for the Gunn student body, and he was a homecoming prince in his senior year. He also served in many youth leadership positions at church.

Brian held diverse jobs as an umpire, a counselor for Foothills Tennis and Swim Club, a lifeguard, a camp leader for 25 children, an award-winning Cutco salesman, a law assistant, and a ranch hand in Idaho.

The first unrecognized symptoms of his illness, later diagnosed as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, appeared during his sophomore year in high school. School became increasingly difficult.

Yet he continued to be involved in many activities and causes and attained success in his endeavors.

He began his freshman year at Brigham Young University in the fall of 2008. However, his escalating illness forced his return home after several months.

Granite Bay, Calif., was his home for most of his last year, he was exposed to his first particle accelerator. As manager of electrical systems at Varian Associates he helped develop one of the very first linear accelerators ever used in the medical field.

In 1970 he founded Schonberg Radiation Corp. which still exists today. There he co- designed and built the world’s first portable accelerator.

His greatest achievements were in the medical field. He co-designed and built Accuray’s Cyberknife; the first medical radiation unit guided

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Catharine M. Heitzmann, a resident of Palo Alto for over 50 years, died on January 17, 2010 at the age of 89. Mrs. Heitzmann was the widow of the late Walter Heitzmann.

Born in Los Angeles, raised in Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu, Catharine is survived by her daughter Anna Catharine, son-in law Stephen Scandalis and grandsons Scott and Mark of Sunnyvale.

A private Memorial Graveside Service will be held at Alta Mesa Memorial Park. Remembrances may be made to the charity of the donor's choice.

O B I T UA RY PA I D

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O B I T UA RY

where he lived on a 240-acre cattle ranch, surrounded by his family.

He worked at a sandwich shop and attended Sierra College. He sought help for his illness at UC Davis and spent most of his last two months at the UCLA and Stanford medical centers. His acute illness affected every aspect of his life.

He is survived by his parents and eight siblings: Bradley, Tessa, Gregory, Kallan, Mark, Melissa, Sarah and Benjamin. He is also survived by two great-grandmothers, Marian Wilson and Ethelyn Taylor; four grandparents, Henry and Colette Taylor and David and Connie Bennion; 25 aunts and uncles, and 41 first cousins. Brian’s favorite times were summer family reunions each year.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Brian Bennion Taylor Legacy Fund (instructions are posted at www.

BrianBennionTaylor.com). The contributions will fund research on schizophrenia as well as provide mental health support for those in need.

A memorial service will be held at 1105 Valparaiso Ave in Menlo Park, California at noon on Saturday, Jan. 30. He will also be remembered at a service in Provo, Utah, at 667 North 600 East on Wednesday, Feb. 3, at noon prior to his interment in a family plot at the Provo City Cemetery.

by a computer-aiming system. He also co-invented the Mobitron, a device which emits an electron beam, and it has had great success in treating certain types of cancer.

He was devoted to his wife Pat, with whom he lived and worked side by side for 61 years until his death.

Together they raised six children, ran the business, and traveled the world. He and Pat have been the organizers and hosts of countless family reunions, bringing relatives together from all over the country.

In 2000, he flew his children and grandchildren across the Atlantic to Estonia to reestablish a connection to their relatives and heritage.

He is survived by his wife, Patricia Schonberg of Los Altos Hills; siblings, Betty Ulrich, Vivian Frame, Don Schonberg and Roy Schonberg; children, Susan Schonberg, Peter Schonberg, Mart Schonberg, Sandi Lucas and Bonnie Konishi; 15 grandchildren; and nine greatgrandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Feb. 6 at 4 p.m. at Unity Church in Palo Alto. Donations may be made to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Betty Whelan Betty Jean Whelan, 81, a resident of Portola Valley, died Jan. 21.

Born to Wendell Beldin and Esther Beldin Burrell, she was raised in Whittier, Calif.

She attended Parnell Preparatory School for girls and graduated from Montebello High School. She earned a degree in kindergarten/primary education from San Jose State University, where she was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority and was one of the founding members of the San Jose State Aqua Ski Club, one of the first collegiate water ski teams in the west.

She was working in the San Jose State student union when she met her future husband, Joe Whelan.

They were married at the Santa Barbara Mission in 1948. She studenttaught kindergarten in the Menlo Park School District before she and Joe began their family of five children.

In addition to waterskiing at Clear Lake, she was also a dynamic tennis player. She played at the Menlo Circus Club and traveled the world competing with the Women’s Amateur International Tennis Team. She was an avid hiker and her love of nature led her to become an expert on the names of California indigenous plants. She led nature hikes as a docent at Filoli, the Open Space Preserve, and Portola Valley Ranch.

She was a creative artist who drew upon her love of nature in her artwork. She created paintings, silk-screens, quilts, silver pieces, ceramics, and weavings. She had a particular interest in wood carving.

She also volunteered at the Allied Arts Guild and Turnabout Shop for the Peninsula Volunteers.

She was gregarious and a friend to everyone she met, but her greatest legacy is her endless love and devotion to her family, loved ones recall.

In addition to her husband Joe Whelan of Portola Valley, she is survived by her children, Karen Sanford, Mike Whelan, Betty-Jo Paroli, John Whelan, and Susan Killian, and their spouses; 10 grandchildren; one great-grandson; and her brother, Roc Burrell.

A rosary service will be held Friday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Church of the Nativity, Menlo Park. A funeral mass will be celebrated on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 9:30 a.m. also at the Church of the Nativity.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Haitian earthquake relief efforts by check to: The Church of the Nativity, Haitian Earthquake Relief, 210 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025.

Pulse

A weekly compendium of vital statistics

Palo Alto Jan. 20-26 Violence related Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Elder abuse/physical. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Family violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Theft related Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Residential burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Shop lift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle related Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle accident/mnr. injury . . . . . . . . . .4 Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .4

Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Attempted auto break-in . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Miscellaneous Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Firearms & weapons possession . . . . . .1 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Outside investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Psych. subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Menlo Park Jan. 20-26 Violence related Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Spousal abuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Theft related Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Residential burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle related Driving w/ suspended license . . . . . . . . .6 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

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Ruth Barnes Berliner, a long-time Palo Altan, died January 12, 2010.

Ruth spent her childhood in Manhattan, Kansas and settled in Palo Alto in 1942. She was a legal secretary in the Law ofďŹ ce of Lakin Spears.

Ruth was founder of the Floret's Garden Club, a ower show judge and a life member of the California Garden Clubs, Inc. Always interested in art, design and interior decorating, Ruth combined her business skills with her artistic air, and began selling real estate in her 60's.

She is survived by her only child Bette Michaud and son-in-law Frederick Michaud, 3 grandchildren Camille Michaud Herwood, Kate Michaud Rosenberg, Marguerite Lynn Michaud, and 8 greatgrandchildren. Ruth was pre-deceased by her sister Marguerite Rost, her brother John Barnes and her husband Elmer Berliner.

O B I T UA RY

Answers to this week’s puzzles, which can be found on page 55

2 3 5 7 1 8 9 6 4

Grafitti abatement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Info. case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Juvenile report taken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Mental evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Parole violation/arrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Welfare check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Tree down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

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Brian Bennion Taylor, age 19, passed away January 22. The oldest of George and Marian Taylor’s nine children, Brian was born in San Diego on February 21, 1990. A 16-year Palo Alto resident, Eagle Scout and Gunn graduate, he found joy in service, athletics, and especially time with family and friends.

Memorial services will be at 1105 Valparaiso Ave, Menlo Park at noon on Saturday, January 30 and in Provo, Utah at 667 North 600 East on Wednesday, February 3, at noon, prior to his interment in a family plot at the Provo City Cemetery.

Full obituary and memorial donation information at: BrianBennionTaylor.com.

Arrangements entrusted to Roller Hapgood & Tinney Funeral Home in Palo Alto. www.rollerhapgoodtinney.com PA I D

Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Vehicle accident/mnr. injury . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle accident/prop damage. . . . . . . .2 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Vehicle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Alcohol and drug related Drug activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Registrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Miscellaneous Coroner’s case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

8 5 3 9 7 6 2 4 1

6 4 9 8 2 1 3 5 7

7 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9

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O B I T UA RY

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Editorial

Palo Alto needs new 2010 priorities Brand new City Council Saturday should to focus on definable areas needing short- and long-term attention in a time of economic challenges

W

ith one exception, every member of the Palo Alto City Council who will convene Saturday for a day-long retreat has served less than two years, with four serving just since Jan. 4.

But this very “lack of depth� on the council could be the biggest asset or strength, if the members realize it and compensate by doing their homework on city history and issues.

Without the baggage of past history to inhibit them, perhaps the members could move ahead with determination to resolve some of the clear problems that beset our community.

Only council veteran Larry Klein — who has served more time on the council in his 13-year tenure than all other council members combined — has a depth of council-level experience, which could be invaluable when it comes to recognizing areas of historical value or civic land mines.

Other members have varying depths of community experience from serving on the planning commission, the school board or community groups.

The test they will face Saturday (9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Palo Alto Unified School District headquarters, 25 Churchill Ave.) will be whether they can forge a cohesive set of city priorities that can actually be measured at key points during the year.

The city’s three 2009 priorities appear deceptively simple: economic health, environmental protection and “civic engagement for the common good.� But each is immensely complex in terms of how to achieve or measure success.

The local economy is subject to broader regional, state and national economic conditions, although a more aggressive economic-development program might help things locally. We are not convinced the city’s program is strong enough or that the “Destination Palo Alto� effort is worth the effort or cost.

The environment — doing what we can locally to combat global climate change — has been an official or unofficial activity in Palo Alto for decades. There is clearly much to be done, and by example the city can continue to provide leadership in a broader arena.

The “civic engagement� priority has faltered, according to results of a survey presented to the council last Monday night: Fewer people reported feeling welcomed into civic affairs in the past year than during the average for the past five years, City Auditor Linda Brouchoud reported to the council. We’re slipping backwards. But this goal may simply be too esoteric for the common good, even if the term had a simple definition.

Two other priorities might well replace it. What of the former priority of emergency preparedness, in light of Haiti and continuing flood and earthquake threats? What of getting the Stanford hospitals’ expansion considered?

Council members Monday night thoughtfully explored the implications of survey results contained in the annual Service Efforts and Accomplishments report by the city auditor.

Some were clearly shaken by results of the independent random-sample survey that showed declines in people’s perception of Palo Alto in several key areas, despite still-high perceptions of the city as a great place overall. Several council members wanted more details, perhaps a follow-up survey that would measure more precisely differences between north and south Palo Alto and specific neighborhoods.

Klein noted that only 494 persons responded of 1,200 sent surveys, a high return but still representing just over 100 persons per zip code. He and Councilman Greg Schmid determined there was a 9 percent margin of error, which Klein termed “huge.�

Other members cited weak areas such as in perceptions of plan review and building permits, trust in city government and spikes in utility costs.

City Manager James Keene said Monday night’s discussion provides a “backdrop of ‘Here’s where we are and here’s where we are going as a city’� that will be highly valuable at Saturday’s retreat. He said having a “collaborative conversation� with the new council on Saturday will help determine “what success will look like� for the year. “What that really means is nine people talking to each other, listening, factoring in information and trying to find how to weave that together in setting direction for what’s important in Palo Alto� in public, with feedback: built-in civic engagement.

Page 14ĂŠUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions

Hospital renewal Editor, Unimaginable devastation barely describes the images coming out of Haiti.

The Haitian earthquake and our own recent seismic activity in Silicon Valley and Eureka are disturbing reminders of what could happen here. Palo Alto is within hiking distance of one of the most destructive faults in North America.

Most choose to think about health care and hospital facilities in generalities until the fever persists, the drunk driver veers, the knife slips or that which occurred in Haiti suddenly happens here.

Fortunately, in Palo Alto, we have immediate access to world-class medical care at the Stanford University Medical Center (SUMC).

The SUMC Renewal Project will provide us with a new, seismically safe hospital, but this project has been under discussion by the Palo Alto City Council for more than three years.

The project deserves careful review, but as a voting resident of this city, I ask the City Council to at least commit to a schedule to complete the review and approval process in 2010.

Time and disaster stand together when action is not taken. The SUMC Renewal Project not only ensures our safety, but it also brings jobs, significant fees to the city, a mitigation package for the community and revenue for local businesses.

I want Stanford Hospital and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital there standing and safe when my family and I need them. Don’t you?

Laura Adams Mosher Way Palo Alto

Don’t delay hospital Editor, In the wake of the Haitian earthquake I experience frustration with the Palo Alto process concerning the Stanford and Packard Children’s Hospitals renovation projects.

Stanford Hospital must be rebuilt to meet California’s earthquake safety standards. The Children’s Hospital regularly turns children away because the need for services has outgrown the bed capacity and as other children’s facilities in the area have closed. Stanford has been working toward approval for these vital rebuilding projects yet has hit one obstacle after another.

It strikes me with fear that if a natural disaster or infectious pandemic hit our community, it is our community that will suffer and would shoulder the blame for the delay.

Some objectors fear the hospital’s expansion. It is unrealistic to expect to receive world-class medical care in an outmoded and chronically overcrowded facility. Some objectors fear increased traffic, although

there are reasonable plans to alleviate this problem. Some objectors seek endless perks from Stanford in exchange for a building permit, as if proximity to two first-rate hospitals isn’t benefit enough. Although maintaining the quality of life in our community is very important, we must weigh the minor inconvenience against the possible devastation that might happen for thousands if Stanford Hospital is damaged in an earthquake and cannot provide for all those that would need its services.

How tragic this Palo Alto process would seem in hindsight if life brings us the unexpected. Lets break this logjam immediately and get on with construction!

Bonnie Bernstein Bellview Drive Palo Alto

MediaNews Editor, Thank you for Sam Chapman’s informative story on the MediaNews bankruptcy filing, about which I had known very little, but which was worrying me. Now I know more, and I’m still worried, and angry.

I was shocked to see that the

Mercury News, as well as the Daily News, is now 80 percent owned by a group of banks and bondholders, not people well known for their devotion to excellent journalism.

I was also horrified to find out that the Chronicle’s parent company had invested $300 million in MediaNews so MediaNews could acquire the Mercury, as well as many other Bay Area papers.

And I guess that the final straw was finding out that MediaNews founder Dean Singleton is also chairman of the Associated Press, and that he said in a speech last September that “motives for newspaper ownership have shifted over the years, from those who wanted to cover news and write opinion to those who came to view newspapers as purely financial investments.�

None of this augurs well for the future for newspapers and their readers.

Hang in there, guys. The Weekly may eventually be the only genuine newspaper left standing.

Sue Kemp Seale Avenue Palo Alto

YOUR TURN The Palo Alto Weekly encourages comments on our coverage or on issues of local interest.

What do you think? What priorities would you suggest for the Palo Alto community and city government?

Submit letters to the editor of up to 250 words to letters@paweekly.com.

Include your name, address and daytime phone number so we can reach you.

We reserve the right to edit contributions for length, objectionable content, libel and factual errors known to us. Anonymous letters will generally not be accepted.

You can also participate in our popular interactive online forum, Town Square, at our community website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Read blogs, discuss issues, ask questions or express opinions with you neighbors any time, day or night.

Submitting a letter to the editor or guest opinion constitutes a granting of permission to the Palo Alto Weekly and Embarcadero Publishing Co. to also publish it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square.

For more information contact Editor Jay Thorwaldson or Online Editor Tyler Hanley at editor@paweekly.com or 650-326-8210.

Check out Town Square!

Hundreds of local topics are being discussed by local residents on Town Square, a reader forum sponsored by the Weekly on our community website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Post your own comments, ask questions, read the Editor’s blog or just stay up on what people are talking about around town!

On Deadline ‘Civic engagement’ and ‘common good’ to surface Saturday

by Jay Thorwaldson nce again, Palo Alto’s community goals will surface Saturday morning during the City Council’s annual retreat.

There were three for 2009: Economic health, environmental protection and a third that has generated some puzzlement, “Civic engagement for the common good.�

That last hinges on defining “common good,� which sounds great in the utterance but boggles my mind a bit and confounds efforts to create city programs to implement it.

In 2008, that priority was simply “civic engagement.� Just about anyone who has lived or worked in Palo Alto for more than a week or so knows what that means. Palo Alto seems to have invented civic engagement almost from its inception — not all of it civil, much of it impassioned, some of it angry and bitterly insulting of others. “For the common good� was added for 2009 under the championship of Ray Bacchetti, chair of the city’s Human Relations Commission and a thoughtful, longtime educator and long-ago school board member.

The challenge is how to get there. On the front lines of community issues one person’s “good� is often another’s “bad.� Housing, high-speed rail, traffic, hospitals, shopping center expansion and a plethora of local neighborhood issues pop to mind. Potholes don’t find a lot of advocates, but beyond that level

O

“common good� gets vague fast.

Part of the difficulty with defining common good is that there has been a sub-theme attached to it, that civic engagement should be more civil, promoting a kinder and gentler Palo Alto both by example and rules of engagement, perhaps. This approach clearly works, sometimes.

Yet who’s to say “common good� doesn’t include vigorous, passionate, head-to-head confrontations and debates that seem to have characterized America’s democracy from its early days, sometimes leading to shouting matches, duels and fisticuffs even.

Council members are puzzling over whether to include civic engagement/common good as a 2010 city priority. A suggested alternative is to seek ways to integrate the concept into city operations, a kind of easy way out of the “good� conundrum.

In its place will likely emerge one or two other priorities: a resurrection of “emergency preparedness� as championed several years back by former Councilwoman Judy Kleinberg during her year as mayor, and a specific goal of completing consideration of a massive plan to rebuild and expand the Stanford Medical Center, Stanford Hospital and the Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital.

Such a specific goal has a precedent: In 2008, the city including resolving the longstanding expansion/rebuilding of its aging libraries as a fourth goal, a success.

It is virtually unthinkable that the economic and environmental priorities would be dropped, given a dismal outlook for city budgets this year and next and the impending crisis of global climate change.

Streetwise

“How do you feel about rainy weather?�

There will almost certainly be discussion of how to measure progress at points during the year on whatever goals the council sets.

The fancy term for such measurements is “metrics.� Don’t be intimidated. It’s just civic jargon.

It will be interesting to see how much time council members spend on “the common good� Saturday. They discussed it a good deal a year ago.

But the topic brings to mind an experience I had last July when I was part of a small group visiting a remote village deep in Kenya, Africa, not far from Lake Victoria, the “source of the Nile� of exploration fame in the 1800s.

As we were preparing to depart the village, an organizer of the visit, Charles Odipo, whose family origins were from the village, asked me to “moderate a discussion of priorities� by the village elders. He asked me to do so as we walked into a large, new church — with a dirt floor and no windows due to lack of funds.

Our small group had provided funding for materials for a school library, the first and only library among 271 schools in the region, including high schools. Local men and a local architect built the modest building, and we equipped it with books packed in our second suitcases. (It needs more.)

Moments later I was moderating a group of 15 or 20 village elders (one of whom told me he was 93) in a discussion of what might be the next priority project. The elders had developed a thoughtful list of priority subjects that fell into three categories: Education, health and running water. (Throughout Kenya women could be seen carrying water buckets on

their heads, in a stately African stride.)

At the Muguna School in the scattered village of Yimbo, older students and staff regularly had to fetch brownish water from a pond nearly a half mile away to use for general purposes, while importing drinking water.

Running water has health implications, one elder observed, urging that as a top priority.

Then another added, “And our young men can’t find brides because women don’t want to marry someone from a village with no running water.� “Now THAT’S a priority that can’t be ignored,� I replied, to a burst of laughter from the elders and observers.

Then, thinking of our priorities in Palo Alto a world away in time and space, I raised a matter that seemed to come close to the heart of “civic engagement for the common good.�

I said I wanted to discuss “Harrambee,� the term for a Kenyan motto that translates roughly as “collaboration toward a common goal.� A goal is something we can define, argue over, debate and finally adopt and measure progress toward achieving it. Neither our group nor the village could have by ourselves built the library. Together, in the spirit of Harrambee, we did it.

And it’s a term even I can understand. I shared this experience with Bacchetti over a breakfast a few months back, and he was thoughtful about it. Bacchetti acknowledged the challenge of “common good,� commenting wryly that perhaps there just aren’t enough philosophy majors in the city’s population to grasp nuances of the term. N Weekly Editor Jay Thorwaldson can be emailed at jthorwaldson@paweekly.com.

Asked on California Avenue in Palo Alto. Interviews by Mike Lata. Photographs by Vivian Wong.

Stanford University Student

Lucie Jay

Manon von Kaenel

John Alderete

Anu Deshpande

“I’m used to a winter mix and this is nothing to me. It prevents forest fires.�

“I like the rain but it does cause problems with the drainage. My school got flooded.�

“It is a little miserable to be honest. I came from Seattle to get away from rain.�

“I love the rain — the more the better.�

West Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park Art Adviser

College Terrace, Palo Alto Student

South Palo Alto Brewer

Downtown Palo Alto Homemaker

“I don’t like it. It’s too cold and days are dull.�

Vamsi Sridharan *>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 15

Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Importance of Funerals Since the beginning of time, funerals have been a way for families and friends to come together to celebrate a life, create a sense of community, share memories, tears and even laughter. Experts agree these comforting rituals help bring acceptance and closure, allowing those left behind to move on.

We are the Peninsula’s premier funeral home and cremation service dedicated to serving all faiths. We have been in Palo Alto for over 110 years – family owned and operated for four generations. We are independent – answering only to our community.

When a death occurs, you and your family will be involved in making many important and personal decisions. You are not alone. We can answer your questions and help you understand your options – funerals, cremations, memorials, tributes, and receptions. We also offer pre-planning services.

Our facilities include a large non-denominational chapel, viewing rooms, a large reception room with catering options, ample parking and unique architectural features, including our indoor atrium.

WE OFFER ON-LINE OBITUARIES For more information, visit our website at: rollerhapgoodtinney.com. Please feel free to call, schedule an arrangement conference, or visit our facilities at 980 MiddleďŹ eld Rd., Palo Alto.

Quiet Beauty and a Peaceful Atmosphere Roller Hapgood & Tinney had been at its present location at the corner of MiddleďŹ eld Road and Addison Avenue in Palo Alto, California since 1951.

Designed by local architect Leslie I. Nichols, our remarkable funeral home features a unique masonry wall constructed of stone from a quarry near Santa Cruz.

FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED FOR FOUR GENERATIONS The family business was established in 1899 when Josiah Roller organized his ďŹ rst funeral. As a retired cabinet maker who was often called upon to craft cofďŹ ns, (he) agreed to organize a funeral for a friend whose father had died in Palo Alto.

In those days, bodies had to be transported by horse and buggy either to San Francisco or San Jose for burial. Josiah agreed to make the arrangements in exchange for help in establishing a funeral home in Palo Alto, something he thought was long overdue. As the only funeral home this side of San Francisco, Roller’s business quickly grew.

In 1906, Josiah Roller’s son, Arthur, took over the burgeoning business, and in 1912 Frank Hapgood joined as a partner. In 1951, they moved the business to its current location at the corner of Addison and MiddleďŹ eld streets.

GOOD EMPLOYEES ARE ESSENTIAL TO A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS In keeping with the belief of our founders, our staff of professionals is knowledgeable, caring and sincere; qualities that are invaluable during your time of need. Palo Alto is a community rich in religious and cultural diversity, and our staff is well trained in the traditions and faiths that surround us.

What To Do First When Someone Dies ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR LOSS When a loved one dies, give yourself, your family and friends adequate time to experience and acknowledge your loss. Call your clergy or spiritual advisor, family members, or friends to be with you during the ďŹ rst few hours immediately after the death.

CONTACT YOUR FUNERAL HOME As soon as possible, call your funeral home. The professionals at Roller Hapgood & Tinney are available day or night to answer your questions, provide guidance, and arrange for transportation of the body. Call us at (650) 328-1360.

If death occurs away from home or out-of-state, we’ll make the necessary arrangements to prepare and transport the body to our funeral home. If the person who has died must be transported out-of-state, we can make necessary travel arrangements and coordinate services with the destination funeral home.

The Staff, clockwise from above: Jenna Moerk, General Manager, Funeral Director and Embalmer; Donavon Dilworth, Funeral Director and Embalmer; Benjamin Bilbro, Funeral Counselor; and Avisha Nair, OfďŹ ce Manager.

Roller Hapgood Tinney, Palo Alto â– 650.328.1360 â– www.rollerhapgoodtinney.com Page 16ĂŠUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Karen Stanger and Kyle Johnson

Scott, Allison & Richard Grocery, Body Care & Vitamin Buyers

Take care of your legal document needs and have money to spare!

True Believers

Are you aware that many of your legal document needs can be met by the experienced paralegal staff at FOR THE PEOPLE Paralegal Service?

FOR THE PEOPLE Paralegal Service, supported by their Supervising Attorney, can create and ďŹ le Wills, Deeds, Living Trusts, Corporations, Power of Attorney, Uncontested Divorces, Child Support Orders, Name Changes, Bankruptcy, and Immigration Documents, to name a few services, at affordable at fee (not hourly) rates.

Documents are created from the customer’s information provided on easy-to-use forms vs. confusing and complicated legal forms. FOR THE PEOPLE Paralegal Service saves you money, time and stress!

The competent, compassionate, and personable team, owner Kyle, and her assistant, Karen, offer top of the line conďŹ dential and personalized service. Please stop in to meet them!

Our buyers at Country Sun Natural Foods are experts when it comes to sorting through all the thousands of products available and choosing the best selection that will satisfy our customers’ tastes and needs. They are passionate about their job because they truly believe in the products we carry.

At Country Sun you can ďŹ nd everything you need to live well and be healthy. We feature a comprehensive selection of natural foods with a strong emphasis on organics, cutting edge nutrional supplements, crueltyfree natural body care, completely organic produce and wine departments, fair trade gifts and so much more! Products for your health and wellness, courtesy of our discriminating and committed buyers.

For The People, 230 S. California Ave., Suite 103, Palo Alto

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650.324.3800 â– Email: ftp230@gmail.com

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Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Robert Martinez and Deirdre MacMahon

Ernie Flores and Jeff Davidson

The Finest Opticians in the Bay Area

Serving Palo Alto for over 60 Years!

California Paint Company has been providing excellent service and products since 1946 and has been family owned since 1962. We feature Benjamin Moore and Pratt & Lambert Paints, ML Campbell Lacquers, Cabot’s Stains, and a full line of tools and sundries for your project. We also sell the full line of Hunter Douglas window treatments along with 200 wallpaper books from which to choose.

Our staff has a great deal of knowledge and would be happy to go over the many products suitable for your project including our many eco friendly and zero VOC products.

PERFECT EYEWEAR...WHAT’S THE SECRET? Palo Alto Eyeworks has the answer!!!

OUR PROVEN FORMULA GUARANTEES YOUR PERFECT EYEWEAR EVERY TIME BY: Identifying your Face Shape Analyzing your Skin Tone Considering your Lifestyle Focusing on your Eyewear Wants & Needs Educating you on the latest Lens & Frame Products Expert Prescription Analysis AND Customer Service Beyond Your Expectations!!!

Personal service provided by our staff:

Robert Martinez and Deirdre MacMahon Combined 72 years of Optical Experience California Paint Company, 360 S. California Ave., Palo Alto

Palo Alto Eyeworks, 461 S. California Ave., Palo Alto

650.326.9285 â– www.californiapaint.com

650.327.5665 â– paloaltoeyeworks.com *>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 17

Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Pam Decharo Owner/Hair International

Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Dave McKenna, Joy Espanola and Marisa Walker Dental Professionals

Pam Decharo (seated) and team pepare to do battle against the forces of poorly styled hair and unmanageable frizzies.

In 2010 Hair International celebrates 20 years at Stanford Shopping Center! Before 1990 practically all the salons in town charged very high prices – there was simply no place else to go. I believed that Palo Altans could discern what was real value if offered to them; providing a better haircut, better style, better color and doing it for 40% less than Downtown.

Complete with a multi-cultural, multi-talented staff, I ďŹ gured that a comfortable, casual environment might be more fun, especially if you didn’t have to wait very long for a great stylist. We’ve seen our customers at 6:00 a.m. wearing their PJs for emergency blowdrys! That’s how it is and it’s been fun for 20 years!

My ďŹ rst two mentors were brilliant businessmen. My last mentor, a woman, was Rosemary McAndrews, director of the Stanford Shopping Center for 30 years. She took Stanford Shopping Center from a strip center to the world class place you visit today. I took my training at Paul Mitchell’s in New York and Vidal Sassoon in Westwood, Ca. In 2001, I was ranked #6 in the USA as a “competitive stylistâ€?. The salon also wins awards, most recently, Best of City Search (in 9 different categories!) and Best of Palo Alto Weekly (2007, 2008, 2009).

It’s all great, but secretly I wake up every morning wondering if someday I’m going to have to ďŹ nd a real job. It’s just so much fun!

Palo Alto’s Perferred Dental Practice For Over 50 Years McKenna Family Dentistry (MFD) was established here in Palo Alto in 1958 by Dr. James McKenna Jr. Working alongside his father for 17 years, Dr. Dave has continued providing the same quality service. Dr. Dave has added two highly skilled and extremely gentle dentists to his staff. Dr. Joy Espanola has been a part of the “family� since 1996 and Dr. Marisa Walker has recently joined our team.

Our hygiene department is directed by Judi McKenna Edwards, Dr. Dave’s sister, whose dedication and enthusiasm helps carry on the family tradition.

At MFD you will ďŹ nd friendly staff here to provide the highest quality of dentistry in a fun and energetic environment. The heart of MFD is to educate, motivate and inspire our patients to better manage their oral health and beautiful smiles..

Hair International, 232 Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto

McKenna Family Dentistry, 1691 El Camino Real, Suite 300, Palo Alto

650.324.2007 â– www.hairintl.com

650.321.4544 ■www.mckennadentistry.com Who’s Who in Business 2010

New Administrator for Los-Altos Sub-Acute and Rehabilitation Center

McNair Ezzard McNair Ezzard pictured with “Jasper� his “assistant “ Jasper is part of Los Altos Sub Acute on a daily basis offering smiles and assistance whenever needed.

890 Fremont Ave, Los Altos 650.941.5255 www.covenantcare.com Page 18ĂŠUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

McNair Ezzard is licensed as a Nursing Home Administrator in the State of California and North Carolina. He has served in the health care ďŹ eld for twenty-seven years, beginning his career in Denver, Colorado where he worked as the Director of Pastoral Care at a ďŹ ftybed in-patient hospice, the Hospice of St. John. After four years in hospice he moved to Beth Israel Hospital where he underwent an administrator-intraining program. Since that time he has served as an administrator in the long term care ďŹ eld, both in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, with the majority of his time spent in skilled nursing.

McNair received his BA degree from the University of North Carolina and Masters degree from The Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado.

McNair believes in skilled nursing health care characterized by unsurpassed quality and professionalism, compassion, respect and by going the ‘extra mile’ to ensure the comfort and well-being of residents and families. He sees long-term care as one point in the continuum of care and seeks to work with the larger health care community to provide the best in care to those in need.

Los Altos Sub-Acute & Rehabilitation Center provides the most comprehensive Rehabilitation & Nursing Programs available.

Los Altos Sub-Acute & Rehab is dedicated to providing quality health care to those in need.

Our emphasis is on living. Our goal is to help individuals achieve their highest possible functioning level and to assist them in returning home whenever practical.

The facility also holds “the Regional Outpatient Clinic� which offers the community therapy on an outpatient basis to anyone in need.

Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Chris Kendall

BARRY McMILLS

Owner

ABC Prosthetist/Orthotist

yum yum tree CONTEMPORARY CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

Fashion with a Personal Touch Chris Kendall studied languages in Switzerland and France before working in a design house in London, where she discovered the special language of fashion. Opening her store in Town and County Village in Sunnyvale over 30 years ago, she quickly found her own fashion niche – helping women develop their own unique style. This contemporary clothing store has become a favorite for many customers. Women know they can get anything from a complete season’s wardrobe to that “special pieceâ€? that will pull an outďŹ t together. Yum Yum Tree moved to Main Street Los Altos two years ago and continues to evolve. A constant ow of intriguing new merchandise draws both old and new customers. Chris and her sales staff pride themselves on being the masters of personalized service and love to make shopping fun!

Yum Yum Tree

Life comes full circle for Palo Alto practitioner Benton Medical (DBA Palo Alto Orthopedic Company) is the community’s leading provider of advanced prosthetic and orthotic services today and has been for more than ďŹ fty-four years.

We are a family owned company who is proud to introduce Barry McMills, son of the original owners of Palo Alto Orthopedic Company.

As the certiďŹ ed prosthetist and orthotist of Benton Medical, Barry began his profession in 1965. He is also knowledgeable and experienced in manufacturing all styles of metal bracing as well as old style wooden prostheses. Barry maintains the industry’s highest training and compliance standards, ensuring that our patients will receive expert and quality care.

Our family understands your home health needs. At Benton Medical we give our clients old-fashioned attention and treat each individual’s custom needs.

Benton Medical Equipment Inc. 2601 Garcia Avenue, Mountain View (650) 625-1000 â– www.bentonmedical.com

650.917.8900 â– 165 Main Street, Los Altos

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opple

Who’s Who in Business 2010

Who’s Who in Business 2010

Jackie Copple

Lyn Cobb

The Professional for Professionals MBA, CRS, SRES

Coldwell banker

YOUR DREAM HOME SPECIALIST

Let Jackie Help You Achieve Your Real Estate Dreams!

Your needs. Your tastes. Your language.

Jackie Copple has been helping clients on the Peninsula achieve their personal ďŹ nancial goals for over 25 years, as a tax accountant, a ďŹ nancial planner, and since 1989 as a Realtor.

Enjoy what Jackie’s clients are saying: “My husband and I could not agree for 7 years, then Jackie came along and she 6 Excelled at listening to each of our concerns 6 0! /- .%(! 3 strong market knowledge and intense previewing 6 Intuitively brought us together on price, our age-old issue 6 -! strong negotiation skills to achieve our Portola Valley dream home!â€? “We sold my mother’s home from 700 miles away when Jackie gave 6 ..!).%*) dedication and energy, keeping us conďŹ dent 6 Extensive ďŹ nancial background for my family’s peace of mind 6 *1!,"/' marketing skills, bringing 10% over asking price!â€?

!,0%)# .$! *((/)%.%!- *" !)'* ,& .$!,.*) *,.*' ''!3 ** -% ! ! 1** %.3 ) )*,.$ .* ) .!* '* '.* */). %) %!1 *- '.*- ) -*/.$ .* ) *-! 1$!,! 1 - , %-!

Jackie Copple, Coldwell Banker 650.465.9160 JCopple@cbnorcal.com www.JackieCopple.com

Expert Knowledge | Proven Results Lyn Jason Cobb & Associates brings an emphasis on innovation and service to the local real estate market and our connections to the areas we serve go back for generations. That personal experience and in depth market knowledge give our clients a distinct advantage when buying or selling a home.

Our Clients Receive: -

Expert Market Analysis Professional Photography & Brochures Personalized & Effective Marketing Solutions including: EFlyers, Newspaper & Magazine Ads, Custom Websites, Virtual Tours, Worldwide E-Marketing Campaigns...and more.

1031 Exchange Expertise Staging Consultation Expert Negotiation & Strategy Access to our private list of home repair specialists Full Time Service & Support

Call Us for information on how we can get you the Best Price for your home.

Lyn Jason Cobb & Associates Lyn Jason Cobb: 650.566.5331 LynJason.Cobb@cbnorcal.com Herschel Cobb: 650.464.2624 Herschel.Cobb@cbnorcal.com

www.CallLyn.com *>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 19

Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Mary Jane DiPiero Andrew Logan Owner of Andrew Logan Psychotherapy

Robert Frost once said, “The best way out is always through.â€? Andrew Logan, a licensed marriage and family therapist, applies this famous quote to how therapy can teach tangible, lifelong skills that help people lead more fulďŹ lling lives.

From his private ofďŹ ce in downtown Palo Alto, Andrew helps clients identify issues, break patterns, improve communication skills and enrich their relationships. He counsels families, couples and individuals—including adults, adolescents and children.

Andrew previously spent seven years as a therapist at the Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC) in Mountain View, including four years counseling adolescents. Before that he worked in high-tech marketing—giving him a deep understanding of how the Silicon Valley culture affects families.

Call today to schedule a complimentary ďŹ rst session.

Andrew Logan Psychotherapy 510 Waverley Street, Palo Alto 650.462.1100 ■andrew@andrewloganmft.com www.andrewloganmft.com Who’s Who in Business ■2010

GarrĂŠ Winery & Martinelli Center

Create your own destination wedding just a few miles away from home! From intimate to grand weddings, the versatility and ambiance of the locations offered at GarrÊ will amaze you. If you are looking for a beautiful, rare and meaningful fully catered venue for weddings, events or corporate team building getaways, then GarrÊ Winery is the perfect match for you. Our Grand Pavilion is surrounded by vineyards and The Martinelli Center with it’s mission style bell tower, fountain and a beautiful cobblestone courtyard can be transformed into a charming oasis. Our expert chef, catering staff, wedding and event coordinators will work with you every step of the way to create an unforgettable event with wonderful lasting memories.

The GarrĂŠ family imported their historic wine making knowledge and charm from Genoa, Italy to the California/Livermore wine country, thus creating the popular GarrĂŠ establishment.

The estate offers wine tastings, bocce ball, live summer concerts, private dinners and also open everyday for lunch at our little Italian cafĂŠ.

Booking now for the 2010-2012 wedding seasons.

Call for Tours and Reservations at: 925-371-8200

GarrĂŠ Winery & Martinelli Center, 7986 Tesla Rd., Livermore, CA

925.371.8200 â– garrewinery.com Page 20ĂŠUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

Founder, Waldorf School of the Peninsula (1984) Coordinator, Waldorf High School of the Peninsula (2007)

Mary Jane’s goal is for the high school to become ďŹ rmly rooted in Waldorf ideals — and in the Peninsula community Mary Jane DiPiero grew up in Kansas, where she cut her teeth at her father’s newspaper and began her life-long passion for education. After graduate school, she taught high school English and journalism, traveled to Italy on a Fulbright teaching fellowship, and worked as a university press and technical editor.

Life took a dramatic turn for Mary Jane, when she discovered Waldorf education.

She loved its unique blending of arts and sciences, and its emphasis on creativity and aesthetics. Determined that her own daughter would attend a Waldorf School, she worked with a group of parents and educators to found Waldorf School of the Peninsula in 1984.

After working at the Nursery through Eighth Grade campus for several years, Mary Jane shifted her focus to launching the High School, which opened in 2007.

The stimulating curriculum combines academics, art, thinking and action. It brings the world into the classroom and the classroom into the world.

Waldorf High School of the Peninsula 21050 McClellan Road, Cupertino â– 650.948.8433 www.waldorfpeninsula.org/highschool

Who’s Who in Business ■2010

Bob Kamangar Realtor/Broker

Bob Kamangar is a Broker/Realtor and owner of Kaman Properties, a full service real estate brokerage ďŹ rm located in Los Altos. Real Estate is Bob’s passion. As a Realtor who is also a general contractor and attorney, Bob’s knowledge of real estate matters extends to residential construction and real estate law.

From high tech executives to builders to ďŹ rst time home buyers, Bob’s clients beneďŹ t from his in-depth knowledge of the local real estate market and construction trends and costs. Bob doesn’t have a crystal ball, but his insight and research intensive approach to residential real estate enable his clients to make their best real estate decisions.

With over $160 million in transactions since 2005, Bob is consistently in the top tier of Realtors on the Peninsula. Bob takes pride in providing excellent service and personally attends to all aspects of his clients’ transactions.

Bob Kamangar, Kaman Properties 650.245.0245 â– www.KamanProperties.com

Cover Story

Courtesy of Robert Drewes

Herpetologist Robert Drewes creates his own American Dream — of snakes and frogs

by Sue Dremann

obert Drewes was having an Indiana Jones moment, wrestling a giant python in Africa. The snake at one point seemed to be getting the upper hand. “It was a big mistake. It was bigger than I thought it was,� Drewes said, recalling the incident in the 1980s from his haven at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

He came out of the experience unscathed.

Drewes, 67, a Stanford resident, might be considered past the snake-wrestling age now, but one shouldn’t count him out. The energetic curator of the Academy’s Department of Herpetology recently jetted off to Ethiopia and is planning another trip to the Democratic Republic of Sâo TomÊ and Principe, a twoisland nation off the western equatorial coast of Africa.

He will continue his search for new species and study the evolutionary relationships of frogs and snakes. “I’ve had a million Indiana Jones moments,�

Drewes said of his excursions, where he’s often chest-deep in a swamp or down in a chasm in search of new life forms. “There is no thrill comparable to finding something new in the world. I’m a bit of a romantic. I’m happiest in the middle of a swamp with a light on my head,� he said.

A new species of stinkhorn fungus found on Sâo TomÊ was named in his honor in 2006:

Phallus drewsii, which is two inches long and shaped like a male body part. The fungus was named by longtime friend Dennis Desjardin, a mushroom expert at San Francisco State University, who joined Drewes on a 2006 expedition to the islands.

‘There is no thrill comparable to finding something new in the world.’

– Robert Drewes

“It’s a huge honor to have something named after you. It’s a form of immortality. It doesn’t matter that it is the second smallest in the world and it’s limp and it smells and attracts flies,� he said, laughing.

The mushroom is the third species to be named after Drewes, along with a blind worm snake from Kenya (Leptotyphlops drewesi) and the South African moss frog (Arthroleptella drewesii).

As a child, Drewes was endlessly fascinated by things living under rocks or at the beach, he said.

Drewes was born and raised in San Francisco near Golden Gate Park, and the Acad-

emy of Sciences and Steinhart Aquarium were boyhood haunts. He fell in love with the beauty of the Academy’s African Hall and was influenced by his great uncle, Norman Banks Livermore. Livermore chaired the Academy’s Board of Trustees during the Depression and World War II and the African Hall was built under his auspices, Drewes said.

It was under those conditions that herpetology “chose me,� Drewes said.

But his parents were children of the Great Depression — his grandparents died as a result of those times, he said. “I was supposed to recoup the family fortune and become a doctor, lawyer or businessman,� he said.

Drewes became a pre-med student at Northwestern University in Illinois — the only man on the football team who was studying medicine, he said. Unhappy, he flunked out.

He joined the U.S. Army Special Forces, serving one tour before returning to college to study psychology at San Francisco State University. It was intuitive and came easily,

Drewes said.

He married his childhood sweetheart, Gail, while still a student. In their tiny Potrero Hill apartment, the couple kept a rattlesnake, two monkeys, a coatimundi and a marmoset. “One night as Gail fed our marmoset, she asked me, ‘Bob, why on earth are you studying psychology?’ From that moment on, I never looked back,� he wrote on his website.

Drewes completed his undergraduate degree at San Francisco State and his Ph.D. in biology at UCLA, focusing on the evolutionary relationships of tree frogs in Africa, Madagascar and the Seychelles Islands.

He developed an ongoing fascination with environmental physiology, the study of how individual organisms physically interact with the environment, he said.

Drewes was hired by the Academy, doing research on frogs. “I got very lucky, and I got to go to Africa to lead tours,� he said.

In 1969, he received a grant from renowned (continued on next page)

wes

Veronica Weber

Courtesy of Robert Dre

Herpetologist Robert Drewes, top, continues his research into frogs and snakes in Sâo TomÊ.

Left, Drewes has been playing saxophone since age 10; Drewes says he is happiest in the middle of a swamp with a light on his head, this time in an impenetrable forest in Uganda.

*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 21

Cover Story Cour tesy of Robert Drewes

Robert Drewes (continued from previous page)

‘There is probably not a single field biologist anywhere who does not have a secret dislike or even fear of one sort of critter or another.’

– Robert Drewes

Page 22ĂŠUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

I ran shrieking down the halls of the British Museum, which is something you don’t do,� he said.

Drewes’ most memorable Indiana Jones moment wasn’t on the Serengeti Plain or in a dark swamp wrestling crocodiles, he said.

It took place on the first 747 jumbo jet he’d ever been on. “Remember the movie ‘Snakes on a Plane?’ It was in 1970 and I had a whole bag of snakes, each in its own cloth pouch. One was a burrowing snake that eats termites,� he said.

Approached by an attractive stewardess from Woodside, Calif., and overcome by exhaustion, Drewes made an ungainly request on behalf of the serpents. “I asked her, ‘Will you help me water my snakes?’� he said.

The pair went into the bathroom and took each snake out of the bag. When the creatures were done drinking water from the lavatory sink, Drewes and the stewardess tied up the bags and stuck them into the overhead bin.

Drewes fell asleep, oblivious to the ensuing crisis around him. “The stewardess came up and said, ‘Excuse me, sir. I think we have a problem.’ It seemed like the plane was empty. I follow the stewardess to the back of the plane, and there’s a

woman standing on her seat with her hands on the back of the seat in front of her, staring at the floor. The burrowing snake had burrowed out of the bag and was crawling around the cabin,� he said.

Drewes scooped it up and returned it to its pouch. “After that, the stewardess took my bag of snakes away,� he said.

For all of his love of creatures, Drewes does have one fear: “There is probably not a single field biologist anywhere who does not have a secret dislike or even fear of one sort of critter or another. With me, it has always been centipedes — even when I was a child. I can’t bear the things! And, naturally, there are some real monsters common on Sâo TomĂŠ,â€? he recently wrote on his blog.

At home, Drewes raises birds and plays the saxophone — something he took up at age 10 when he fell in love with the sound and demanded one for Christmas, he said.

He’s part of a quartet now at the Academy

called the Chopsaw Lounge, so named because they used to play in the woodshop. The group is composed of the head of the Mineralogy Department, an engineer and an IT manager, he said. “It has kept me sane. I keep two saxes in the lab. I have a small soprano that I can stick in my luggage and scare the Africans,� he said.

Drewes no longer keeps the menagerie of creatures he started with in his San Francisco apartment years ago. In his Stanford home, decades later, things are a little different. “I have four children — I live with animals!

I don’t need them at home!� he said, laughing. N More about Bob Drewes, along with photos from his 35 expeditions, can be found at www. calacademy.org/science/heroes/rdrewes/.

Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.

On the cover: Drewes photograph by Michelle Le. Collage by Shannon Corey.

A blind worm snake from Kenya (Leptotyphlops drewesi), left, and the South African moss frog (Arthroleptella drewesii) were also named for Robert Drewes.

Robert C. Drewes

Cour tesy of Robert Drewes

“The study of the fauna of these islands is a real window into the ancient history of Africa,� he said.

Sometimes Drewes finds new species where he hadn’t planned to look. “I was leading a trip in 1992-93 in the Serengeti with friends and there were nine kids, 18 to 9 years of age. It’s one of the most intensely studied areas,� Drewes said. “We stopped at a large rock ... and one kid raced up on the rock and said, ‘Bob, there’s a frog up here.’�

It was a new species in a place where people eat lunch every day, he added. Further looking into how the creatures have survived there, Drewes did research in a London laboratory. “I went into the stomachs of the frogs. There were whole snails in the gut of these things.

Left, Robert Drewes poses with a baracuda in Principe.

Right, Phallus drewsii was named after Robert Drewes by his friend Dennis Desjardin, a mushroom expert who joined Drewes on a 2006 expedition to Sâo TomÊ and Principe.

Brian Perry

paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey to study and record the fauna of northern Kenya, which no one had yet recorded, he said.

Drewes has now worked in 30 different African countries and has led 35 expeditions, traveling to Africa on average once a year, he said.

In Sâo TomÊ and Principe, Drewes has led four multi-disciplinary expeditions of scientists to study the islands. It’s a race against time, he said. The islands are in an exclusive economic zone that includes Gulf of Guinea oil and could soon be changed forever.

Drewes is hoping the discovery of so many new species of plants and animals will help get the area set aside for protection, he said.

Phallus drewsii, the stinkhorn mushroom, is one of 225 fungus species that Desjardin and colleague Brian Perry collected during 2006 and 2008 expeditions, he said. “Most people don’t know it’s a biological gold mine. It has the highest concentration of endemic bird species in the world,� Drewes said.

The islands were never attached to mainland Africa. Because of that separateness, species that evolved in Africa before the Great Rift Valley was formed still exist, he said.

Sâo TomÊ’s remnant species date back 14 to 15 million years; on Principe, the smaller of the two islands, some of the species are 31 million years old, he said.

Sports Shorts

PREP BASKETBALL

A good time to take their best shots

TOP RECRUITS . . . The Stanford football team evidently has landed Blake Lueders, one of the top prospects from the state of Indiana. He gave Stanford a verbal commitment Sunday. The defensive end/tight end from Zionsville High took his official visit the previous weekend. Lueders orginally committed to Notre Dame in June, but waivered because of the coaching change in South Bend. Randy Hart, who helped recruit Leuders as the Irish defensive line coach, recently was hired

by Stanford for the same position and was apparently on campus when Leuders visited. Brian Polian, who was hired to replace the departed DJ Durkin as special teams coach, also coached at Notre Dame last year. Rivals.com suggested in September that Lueders, rated the fourth-best prospect from the state of Indiana, “is possibly the most underrated prospect in the entire nation.�

Lueders was named Indiana’s Mr. Football as a senior. He had 93 tackles, three fumble recoveries and one interception despite missing a game due to surgery.

Friday Men’s volleyball: Cal State Northridge at Stanford, 7 p.m.; KZSU (90.1 FM)

Saturday Men’s basketball: Stanford at Arizona St., 1 p.m.; XTRA Sports (860 AM) Women’s basketball: Arizona at Stanford, 2 p.m.; KZSU (90.1 FM)

Wednesday Men’s volleyball: Pacific at Stanford, 7 p.m.; KZSU (90.1 FM)

SPORTS ONLINE For expanded daily coverage of college and prep sports, please see our new site at www.PASportsOnline.com

I

Showdowns

Pinewood’s Hailie Eackles (23) scored 20 points the last time her team faced Eastside Prep’s Ausjerae Holland (4) and Felicia Anderson (34). Pinewood lost, but will see redemption on Friday night.

(continued on page 25)

WOMEN’S WATER POLO

Goal for No. 1 Stanford is to finish there, too

by Rick Eymer omen’s water polo has never been more popular locally in terms of participation or fan interest. Having the nation’s top-ranked college team at Stanford certainly helps.

The Cardinal (26-4 last year) opens its season at the NorCal Invitational Saturday with a game against UC Santa Barbara in Berkeley. “We haven’t done anything yet and we’re No. 1 for two straight weeks,� Stanford coach John Tanner said. “It is fun to get people talking about it though. We will be good.�

Stanford will know more about itself following the Stanford Invitational next weekend, where eight of the top 10 teams in the nation, including the top six, will gather at Avery Aquatic Center.

Stanford’s group features No. 2 USC, No. 6 Michigan and No. 8 San Jose State.

The other group includes No. 3 Hawaii, No. 4 Cal, No. 5 (and defending national champion) UCLA and No. 10 Arizona State. “It will be a bruiser of a weekend,� Tan-

W

ner said. “We’ll know by halftime of the Super Bowl how we match up with other teams.�

The Cardinal also plays San Jose State, Arizona State, UCLA, Hawaii, California and USC in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation competition.

The MPSF tournament, with the winner receiving the automatic berth into the NCAA tournament, will mean even more tough games against top competition. “To be a great team you have to play against the highest level of competition,�

Tanner said. “We want to be at the elite level and need those games to push our players to get better and our team to improve.�

Stanford hosted an exhibition game with the Canadian National Team last week, the same team that earned a silver medal at the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Rome last summer. Team Canada lost, 7-6, to Team USA in the gold medal game.

The Cardinal has its share of players with international experience, with senior (continued on page 24)

Kyle Terada/Stanford Athletics

ON THE AIR

by Keith Peters t’s time for some payback for the Palo Alto and Sacred Heart Prep boys’ and Pinewood girls’ basketball teams. It’s not quite do or die, but much is at stake for all three nonetheless.

First and foremost, the Vikings, Gators and Panthers will be playing for first place on Friday night in their respective leagues. Paly and SHP can take sole possession of the top spot with victories while Pinewood can earn a share of it.

All three are facing teams that handed them their only league losses this season. All three losses were close — making each one very winnable.

Eastside Prep beat Pinewood, 46-38; Palo Alto lost to Los Gatos in overtime, 62-61, and Sacred Heart Prep fell at home to Harker, 55-50.

To say it’s time for revenge may be an understatement. “I think they all see what the game presents,� said SHP coach Tony Martinelli, who was talking about his players.

Martinelli’s statement also applies to all three teams, which know how much weight a victory will carry on Friday night.

First up will be the Pinewood girls, who will play host to Eastside Prep at 6:30 p.m. in a West Bay Athletic League (Foothill Division) game that could go a long way in determining the regular-season champion.

At 7:30 p.m., the Sacred Heart Prep boys will take the floor at Blackford High in San Jose to face host Harker in a showdown between the WBAL’s top two teams.

Finally, sometime after 7:45 p.m., Palo Alto will lay out the welcome mat for Los Gatos in a SCVAL De

Hoop

Keith Peters

HELP WANTED . . . Priory is looking for a track and field coach plus an assistant lacrosse coach for the spring season. Those interested should contact Athletic Director Mark Stogner at mstogner@prioryca.org . . . MenloAtherton is looking for a new head football coach as well as coaches for track and field, swimming and a head frosh-soph baseball coach. Anyone interested can contact Mary Podesta at mpodesta@seq.org or 650-322-5311 ext 5708 . . . Castilleja is looking for an assistant softball coach for this spring. Those interested should contact Athletic Director Jez McIntosh at jez_mcintosh@ castilleja.org . . . Pinewood is looking for a head coach for boys’ and girls’swimming. Contact Athletic Director Matt Stimson at 941-6044 or at mstimson@ pinewood.edu . . . Sacred Heart Prep is seeking assistant coaches in its girls’ lacrosse program.Interested applicants please contact AD Frank Rodriguez at frodriguez@shschools.org or at (650) 473-4031.

Pinewood girls, Paly and SHP boys all will play for first place on Friday night

Stanford senior Jessica Steffens made the 2008 Olympic team as a defensive standout. *>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 23

Sports

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A Guide to the Spiritual Community First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto Sunday Services – 8:30 & 10:25 Sunday School – 9:00 Rev. Love & Rev. McHugh OfďŹ ce Hours: 8-4 M-F

625 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto

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Stanford Memorial Church University Public Worship Sunday, January 31st, 10:00 am

“Faith and the Evidence of Things Hoped For�

All are welcome.

Information: 650-723-1762

Rev. Joanne Sanders Music featuring the Memorial Church Choir and University Organist, Dr. Robert Huw Morgan http://religiouslife.stanford.edu

We Invite You to Learn and Worship with Us.

FPCMV welcomes our new Pastor Timothy R. Boyer.

Biblically based Sermons and Worship Service 10:30 AM. www.fpcmv.org 1667 Miramonte (Cuesta at Miramonte) 650.968.4473

INSPIRATIONS

A resource for special events and ongoing religious services. To inquire about or make space reservations for Inspirations, please contact Blanca Yoc at 326-8210 x6596 or email byoc@paweekly.com

Page 24ĂŠUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

Local water polo club graduates now gracing Division I programs

by Rick Eymer here are at least 30 local women’s water polo athletes on the rosters of various Division I schools around the country. That’s counting graduates only from six area high schools.

The Stanford Water Polo Club stands as the core of the water polorich area, with a significant tip of the hat to the NorCal Water Polo Club.

Players and coaches alike have developed an appreciation of the game and honed their skills through the club level.

Stanford’s club team has a 14and-under program which has set the stage for future development, whether athletes compete beyond high school or not. “There are not a lot of 14-under programs,� said Stanford coach John Tanner, who helps run the club program with Susan Ortwein and Kyle Utsumi, among others. “The ones who play in high school are already competitive. It’s important for our sport to develop the sport in this area.�

Tanner and Ortwein took over from former Stanford coach Ben Quittner, who started the club in 1992.

Local high school coaches such as Ted Minnis, Cory Olcott, Travis Wyckoff and Chris Rubin have been or are in the program. “When you have great facilities and a lot of great coaches it creates

T

Water polo

(continued from page 23)

Jessica Steffens heading the list. She played on the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing two years ago. “She got to the Olympic team by building a reputation as a defensive player,� Tanner said. “But she really is a great, all-around skilled, poised, alert player. She can impact a game both offensively and defensively.

She stands out.�

Steffens, a first-team All-American, scored 12 goals last year in addition to her defensive prowess, which helped the Cardinal limit opposing teams to an average of 6.9 goals a game, while Stanford averaged 12.7 goals. “She covers so much of the pool that she can affect the way people play,� said Tanner.

Steffens, who helped the U.S National Team win the gold medal at the FINA World League Super Finals last July, is one of four seniors who will shape the character of this year’s team. Menlo-Atherton grad Kelly Eaton, Kelsey Holshouser and Alex Koran lend experience, leadership and expertise to the process.

They also accounted for 100 of the team’s 382 goals last year. “With the four of them we have a lot of things covered,� Tanner said. “They work great together and I think we’ll reflect that experience.

It’s a great group of seniors.�

Eaton, an honorable-mention AllAmerican, was third in scoring last season with 45 goals and will figure

an atmosphere,� Tanner said. “Players get started and then become dedicated to the sport.�

Men’s water polo has also developed at the same hyper speed and there are more than a dozen college players with local ties.

For the women, it’s a relatively young sport and it caught on in a hurry. “Kyle gave me a list of 16 women who earned All-American academic honors at 11 different universities that came through our club,� Tanner said. “In 2008, when the CCS finals were held at Stanford, someone pointed out the final four schools were all within a few miles of the campus. Those are the things that impress me. We’ve always tried to emphasize a balance of academics and athletics.�

Stanford has four locals, one in each class: senior Kelly Eaton (M-A), junior Kim Krueger (Menlo), sophomore Pallavi Menon (SH Prep) and Vee Dunlevie (SH Prep).

Other Pac-10 teams also boast of prominent local players. Defending national champions UCLA claims Megan Burmeister and Cammy Sullivan (Menlo), KK Clark and MJ Mordell (SH Prep) with Rebecca Dorst (M-A) committed to attending next year.

Lindsay Dorst (SH Prep) is a redshirt freshman at Cal, and Palo Alto’s Remy Champion is a teammate.

Around Northern California, there’s Sacred Heart Prep grad Adriana Vogt at San Jose State and SH Prep’s Laura Child and M-A grad Heidi Kucera at UC Davis.

SH Prep grad Christie Clark will be in the pool for UC Santa Barbara when the Gauchos face Stanford on Saturday at Cal. Menlo’s Elise Ponce plays at Loyola Marymount, M-A’s Morgan Leech is at Arizona State and Palo Alto’s Liza Dernehl is at Indiana and Woodside Priory’s Constance Hiller is at USC. Then there’s the Ivy League, where Palo Alto grads seem to thrive. Harvard boasts of Lizzie Abbott, Roxanne Pinto and Natasha Whitney. Tanya Wilcox and Phoebe Champion are at Princeton, and Hallie Kennan and Tara Murao play for Bucknell.

Menlo’s Cayley Bowles and Castilleja’s Laura Martinez are also at Princeton, while M-A’s Rita Bullwinkel, Menlo’s Brittany Westerman and Castilleja’s Kat Booher are all at Brown.

Palo Alto’s Allison Feeney plays for Redlands, and other Stanford water polo club members in college include Whitney Allen, Kandis Canonica (Bucknell), Jenna Roe (Foothill), Wren White and Laura Espinosa (Santa Clara), Lauren Wyckoff and Cassie Wyckoff (Indiana), and Katie Zakula (UC Santa Barbara).N

STANFORD WOMEN’S WATER POLO Date Opponent Time Sat. UCSB at Cal ..............11:45 a.m.

Sun. CS Monterey Bay at Cal .... 8 a.m.

Sun. Pacific at Cal .............11:45 a.m.

Sun. TBD at Cal Feb. 6 vs. Michigan ............8:30 a.m.

Feb. 6 vs. USC ........................ 4 p.m.

Feb. 7 vs. San Jose St. ............ 8 a.m.

Feb. 7 vs .................................... TBD Feb. 13 vs. Sonoma St. ........... 10 a.m.

Feb. 20 at San Jose St.* ............. noon Feb. 27-28 at UC Irvine Inv. Mar. 5 vs. San Diego St. .......... 4 p.m.

to be even more of a presence offensively this season. “She’s expanding her game,� said Tanner, also an M-A grad. “She’s worked on her conditioning and strength. She’s always been really fast and now she’s doing a great job vertically. It will be exciting to see how she plays.�

Koran added 29 goals, fifth on the team last year and the third-highest of any returning player. She scored a team-high four goals in Stanford’s MPSF tournament opening win over San Diego State.

Holshouser, who spent time coaching youth water polo, scored twice to help Stanford beat Marist in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year.

While Tanner sings the praises of his seniors, there’s no shortage of complimentary words for everybody else on the roster. After all, there are 15 other reasons why the Cardinal starts the year at the top of the poll.

Mar. 6 vs. UC Irvine ................. 1 p.m.

Mar. 7 vs. CSUB at UC Davis ..11 a.m.

Mar. 7 at UC Davis................... 2 p.m.

Mar. 21 vs. Arizona St.* ............. 1 p.m.

Mar. 27 at UCLA* ...................... 1 p.m.

Mar. 28 at Long Beach St. ........... noon Apr. 11 at Hawaii* ...................... noon Apr. 17 vs. California*............... 6 p.m.

Apr. 24 vs. USC* ...................... 6 p.m.

Apr. 30-May 2 MPSF Tournament at USC May 14-16 NCAA Tournament at San Diego * MPSF contest

Melissa Seidemann led Stanford with 59 goals last year and was named MPSF Newcomer of the Year en route to being named thirdteam All-American.

Junior Amber Oland, an all-MPSF pick, returns to mind the goal, with junior Kim Hall giving the Cardinal quality depth at the key position.

Menlo School grad Kim Krueger and Sacred Heart Prep grad Pallavi Menon are two of the eight players who scored at least 20 goals last year and sophomores Alyssa Lo and Cassie Churnside were right behind, each scoring in double figures.

Sophomores Mimi Bury and Monica Coughlan also return with valuable experience.

Sacred Heart Prep grad Vee Dunlevie highlights a cast of freshmen considered one of the top recruiting classes in the nation. Kate Baldoni, Victoria Kennedy, Alexis Lee, Jillian Garton and Annika Dries join Dunlevie as players who could contribute early in their careers. N

Sports

Hoop showdowns (continued from page 23)

Anza Division titanic between the co-leaders. “It’s a league championship that’s on the line,� Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler said of his Friday game with Eastside Prep, but again could be speaking about all three.

Second-place Pinewood (3-1, 12-5) and first-place Eastside Prep (5-0, 16-2) both are coming off impressive victories on Tuesday. The LAH Panthers romped past MercySan Francisco, 72-45; while the EPA Panthers routed visiting Sacred Heart Prep, 59-28.

For Eastside Prep, senior Felicia Anderson led the way with 20 points while junior Ahjalee Harvey added 17 points and five assists with freshman Hashima Carothers contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds. Eastside Prep streaked to a 27-11 halftime lead.

In Los Altos Hills, Pinewood kept pace as junior Hailie Eackles poured in 23 points and added five rebounds and four assists while Kelsey Morehead made five of six 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. The Panthers made 15 of 30 treys, including nine straight in the second quarter, while shooting 54 percent from the field for the game.

Pinewood shot poorly in its first meeting with Eastside Prep and trailed by as many as 26 points before putting on a furious rally to make it close. Pinewood will be strengthened by the return of 5-foot11 junior Jenna McLoughlin, who just finished rehabbing an ACL injury. She played in her first game of the season on Tuesday, scoring five points and grabbing four rebounds.

Pinewood needs to keep Anderson and Harvey under wraps in addition to having a good shooting night in order to forge a tie for the division lead. “I think that we’re a different team

than the last time we played them,� said Scheppler, noting, among other things, the addition of McLoughlin. “She means a lot to us.�

Scheppler said the first meeting angered him when he saw the game tape. “We weren’t relentless; we were passive,� he said. “We showed a lack of toughness. We got away from being ourselves.�

When Scheppler showed the game tape of the Eastside Prep game to his players, he said “they were embarrassed. Now, we’re playing with a new purpose. I think we’ve kind of redirected who we want to be as a team.�

It will be a busy night at Pinewood on Friday. Former Pinewood standout Sami Field-Polisso will be inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame at halftime and the Pinewood boys will host Eastside Prep at 8 p.m.

The Sacred Heart Prep boys (6-1, 12-5), meanwhile, know what they need to do grab sole possession of first place against Harker (6-1, 17-3). “The (first) game was played at their speed,� Martinelli said. “We pressed more at the end to catch up, but we ran out of gas. Hopefully we learned a lesson after the Harker game.�

Martinelli wants to set the tempo this time, perhaps press more early and utilize his deep bench. Harker is limited with its personnel and SHP can take advantage by playing an up-tempo game. “It’s important to get a lot of guys involved in the game,� Martinelli said. “It’s hard to get a lot of guys in the game if you’re not running up and down the court. In evaluating the first Harker game, I probably didn’t use the guys properly.�

Martinelli would like to see his team play like it did in the first half of Tuesday’s 90-67 victory at Eastside Prep. “We pressed a lot in the first half

and forced turnovers,� Martinelli said. “A lot of guys got involved in the game.�

Junior Reed McConnell led the Gators with 22 points, one of five SHP players to reach double figures. McConnellĂ­s twin brother, Will, added 16 points. Sacred Heart made a season-high 35 field goals and grabbed a 51-26 halftime lead before coasting in the second half.

Leslie Gray led the Panthers (1-6, 3-13) with 25 points. He has scored 79 points in the past three games.

Palo Alto coach Bob Roehl also has a good idea what went wrong in his team’s first meeting with Los Gatos. “We had the game won twice and let it slip away,� he said. “At the end of regulation, we didn’t block out and they got the rebound and scored. In overtime, we didn’t rebound again, they scored and won.�

Roehl said the positive thing that came out of the game was being able to fix the problems. “The things we have had trouble with are our own mistakes,� Roehl said. “We can fix those things. It’s not something the other teams are doing to us.�

Like Pinewood and Sacred Heart, Palo Alto has not lost since the Los Gatos game. “I honestly feel that with each game we’ve gotten better,� Roehl said. “We have not gone backward . . . the kids are really working hard at being good teammates and are supporting each other.�

Getting solid and unselfish contributions from throughout the lineup, Palo Alto (5-1, 12-6) set the stage for Friday’s showdown with a 5927 humbling of host Fremont on Wednesday night. Los Gatos (5-1, 16-2) routed Wilcox, 74-45, to keep pace. “Team defense and great teamwork was the difference,� Roehl said. “We created easy scoring opportunities with our unselfish play.� N

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Ahjalee Harvey

Jack Odell

Eastside Prep

Sacred Heart Prep

The junior scored 26 points in a 41-38 basketball win over Castilleja, tallying 14 points in the fourth quarter, and added 25 points to help beat Menlo and keep the Panthers unbeaten and atop the WBAL.

The junior scored both goals in a 2-0 soccer victory over Harker and added two more in a 4-0 triumph over rival Menlo as the first-place Gators won their eighth straight to remain unbeaten and atop the WBAL standings.

Honorable mention Hashima Carothers Eastside Prep basketball

Abby Dahlkemper

Leslie Gray Eastside Prep basketball

Joseph Lin

Sacred Heart Prep soccer

Drew Edelman*

Palo Alto basketball

Reed McConnell

Menlo basketball

Sacred Heart Prep basketball

Whitney Hooper

Brendan Rider

Menlo basketball

Palo Alto basketball

Jennifer Kirst

Jack Sakai

Menlo-Atherton soccer

Lizzy Weisman*

Palo Alto wrestling

Kyle Scherba

Sacred Heart Prep soccer

Sacred Heart Prep soccer * previous winner

To see video interviews of the Athletes of the Week, go to www.PASportsOnline.com

Sacred Heart Prep boys are running away with the WBAL soccer race after 8-0 win

by Keith Peters f anyone in the West Bay Athletic League boys’ soccer race is thinking of catching Sacred Heart Prep. Time is running out as quickly as the Gators are running away with the league.

With five matches remaining in the regular season, Sacred Heart Prep is still alone in first place at 9-0 (11-3 overall). The Gators have 27 points, with Priory their closest pursuer with 18.

Coincidently, those teams will meet on Friday on the Panthers’ likely soggy grass field at 3 p.m. If Priory has any thoughts of catching the Gators, it had better pull out a victory. If not, the Gators are just another day closer to wrapping things up.

In fact, if SHP knocks off Priory (6-2, 6-4), the Gators would have to lose their remaining four matches while the Panthers go no worse than 4-0-1 to streal the crown away.

That also means that if Sacred Heart Prep wins on Friday and beats visiting Eastside Prep on Wednesday, it’s over.

I

Keith Peters

Sacred Heart Prep’s Victor Ojeda (13) had a goal and an assist while Kyle Scherba (10) had an assist in an 8-0 win over Pinewood.

The Gators took another big step toward clinching the league title with an 8-0 thumping of host Pinewood on Wednesday. The Gators got the winning goal from senior Matt Walter at the 10:17 mark in the first half off an assist from Alfonso Avila. Everything after that was a bonus as the Gators dominated Pinewood (0-6-1). Robert Ojeda scored twice for SHP, just four minutes apart in the second half. His brother, Victor, added a goal and an assist.

Goalie Max Polkinhorne also saw some time on the field and assisted on one goal.

In San Jose, Priory kept its slim hopes alive of catching first-place Sacred Heart Prep with a 4-1 victory over host Harker. The Panthers took care of Harker (1-5-2) as Guillermo Talancon and Evan Filipczyk each scored two goals while freshman keeper Evan Finney had a stellar performance. Filipczyk now has eight goals in the past four matches.

In Atherton, Menlo remained in third place in the WBAL with a 2-1 victory over visiting KingĂ­s Acad-

emy. The Knights improved to 4-3-1 in league for 13 points (6-6-1 overall) but still trail first-place Sacred Heart Prep and second place Priory.

Vikram Padval scored both goals for Menlo.

In Hillsborough, Jesus Magana and Oscar Estrada both scored goals to carry Eastside Prep to a 2-0 victory over host Crystal Springs-Uplands in a WBAL match. The Panthers improved to 4-2-1 in league (4-3-3 overall) and remain tied for third place with Menlo, both with 13 points.

In the Pal Bay Division, MenloAtherton (5-2, 6-4-1) took over second place with a 6-0 victory over visiting Woodside on Wednesday.

Will Cabral scored what would be the winning goal in the 12th minute of the first half. M-A sophomore Edgardo Molina warmed up in the second half with three goals in the 54th, 61st and 77th minutes. He also assisted on a goal by Francisco Sanchez in the 66th minute. Gabe Kaplan added to the scoring on a (continued on page 26)

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Sports

Prep roundup (continued from page 25)

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“TAKING CONTROL OF THE INSATIABLE AMERICAN APPETITE�

DAVID KESSLER (Author / Professor, UCSF School of Medicine, former commissioner of the Food & Drug Administration) Cubberley Auditorium, Stanford (485 Lasuen Mall) This event is free and open to the public.

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free kick in the 71st minute. MenloAtherton will play host to first-place Sequoia on Friday at 3 p.m.

In the SCVAL De Anza Division, it has taken much of the season, but the good old Palo Alto-Gunn rivalry in boys’ soccer is back. Both teams are battling for the division lead these days while swapping first place on a weekly basis.

Palo Alto grabbed the top spot last week, but Gunn took it back on Tuesday with a big 1-0 victory over host Los Altos.

The Titans (4-2, 5-7-1) got an early goal from Sterling Hancock, assisted by Enzo Cabili, and making it hold up for the important triumph.

Hancock missed the preseason with an injury, but has made an impact since his return as the Titans bounced back from their 1-5 start without him. On Tuesday, both teams had opportunities throughout the fast-paced match with Gunn making the most of its chances.

Gunn’s win gives the Titans 12 points in the tightly contested league race. Los Altos fell to 2-3 (7-5). Palo Alto, which tied host Milpitas on Tuesday, fell back into second with 11 points.

Palo Alto (3-1-2, 6-3-5) and Gunn will meet on the Vikings’ field on Feb. 4 at 3:30 p.m., to possibly decide the league title.

Despite out-shooting Milpitas, 10 to 2, in the first half, Palo Alto walked off at halftime down 1-0.

Paly had plenty of opportunities but, despite a combination of crosses from the end line and direct shots on goal, could not score in the first half. With 13 minutes remaining in the match, John Richardson sent another cross to the back post and Alex Freeman out-manuevered the Milpitas keeper for the tying score on a header.

Girls’ soccer Sacred Heart Prep junior Abby Dahlkemper made her final match over the next two weeks a special one as she scored three goals to spark the Gators to a 5-0 romp over visiting Castilleja in a West Bay Athletic League (Foothill Division) girls’ soccer match on Tuesday.

Dahlkemper departed Wednesday for Sunrise, Fla., where she will train with the U.S. National 17-Under Team in its preparation to qualify for the 17-U World Cup in September. The national team will play three exhibition matches against a German squad.

The USA will attempt to qualify of the second-ever FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup through the CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship being held in Costa Rica from March 9-20, 2010.

Dahlkemper gave the first-place Gators (5-0, 10-3-2) a 2-0 halftime lead with a pair of goals, the second assisted by Gianna Capovilla. After Lauren Espeseth made it 3-0 in the second half, Dahlkemper finished off her second-straight hat trick off an assist from senior Lizzy Weisman. Freshman Kendall Jager finished off the scoring as Castilleja fell to 2-3 (5-4).

In San Bruno, the Priory re-

mained within reach of first-place by blanking Mercy-Burlingame, 3-0, on Tuesday in a WBAL (Foothill Division) match at Skyline College. The Panthers improved to 3-1-1 in league (5-5-1 overall).

Priory junior Massiel Castellanos scored within the first few minutes of the match off an assist from Melissa Perna. The Panthers got sluggish for the rest of the half, but then came out strong in attack mode for the second half. Lauren Allen scored on a header off a corner kick served by Adriana Cortes. Later on, Cortes dribbled past four defenders and slotted it low into the corner to put the icing on the victory.

In Atherton, Menlo remained tied for second place following a 2-0 victory over visiting Notre DameSan Jose. The Knight s(3-1-1, 9-2-2) scored both goals on headers. The first came in the 18th minute by senior Mila Sheeline off a cross by freshman Maya Norman. The second arrived eight minutes into the second half by sophomore Sophie Sheeline, off a cross from senior Sarah Swig.

Big contributors on defense for Menlo included Shannon Lacy and Frannie McCarthy, while seniors Nicole Fasola and Kelly Cavan stood out on offense.

In the SCVAL De Anza Division, Palo Alto gained some ground in the tough race with a 3-1 victory over visiting Homestead on a dreary Tuesday afternoon. The Vikings improved to 3-3 in league (6-5-1 overall) while the Mustangs fell to 2-3 (5-8), allowing Paly to move into fourth place.†The winning goal came in the first half as senior captain Kelly Jenks played a five-yard pass down the left sideline to senior Sophie Cain, who got to it before it passed the corner flag. Cain sent a cross in the air to senior Kaitlyn Patterson, who was running on to it and volleyed it into the goal in the sixth minute.†In the 30th minute, sophomore Marina Foley received a ball a the top of the box, turned with it and chipped it in the air just in front of Jenks, who raced to beat the goalie and slotted it to the right outside the keeper’s reach into the cage for a 2-0 lead. Foley scored the third goal off a header assist from Jenks.

In another De Anza Division match, host Gunn rallied from a one-goal halftime deficit to tie the match on an unassisted goal by Diana Wise midway through the second half. That held up for a 1-1 deadlock with Los Altos as the Titans improved to 0-4-1 in league (2-7-2 overall).

In the PAL Bay Division, MenloAtherton (3-3-1, 7-4-2) remained in fourth place despite dropping a 7-1 rout to visiting Burlingame on Tuesday. The victory moved Burlingame (5-0-1) into a first-place tie with Woodside (5-0-1), which suffered a 1-1 deadlock with Aragon (4-0-3). N

For daily high school results, go to: PASportsOnline.com

Arts & Entertainment A weekly guide to music, theater, art, movies and more, edited by Rebecca Wallace

Top: On a light at Stanford’s Green Library, a raven’s nest: one of the nature-themed sights on the campus tour. Above: A close-up of Don Yeomans’ “The Stanford Legacy,� a cedar totem pole. Right: The Hoover Tower peers between the wires of the Kenneth Snelson sculpture “Mozart 1.�

Flora, fauna sculpture

&

New Stanford podcast tour explores connections between science and outdoor art

Above, left: A bird pauses while feasting in a persimmon tree. Above, right: Charles Ginnever’s 1982 sculpture “Luna Moth Walk 1.�

T

story by Rebecca Wallace photographs by Ron Evans

he rusty, geometric sculpture looks like a giant origami creature in the grass.

Angles reach skyward. Are they wings?

It’s a funny sort of crane.

Actually, Donald Kennedy tells me, this 1982 Charles Ginnever sculpture planted on a Stanford University lawn is called “Luna Moth Walk I.� Ah, the wings. Real luna moths are pale green, he says. “They look like the moon.�

Kennedy adds that luna moths’ caterpillars often feed on persimmon trees, and points out a tree nearby. My companion is already mesmerized, gazing up as the orange fruit slowly disappears. We can’t see any caterpillars, but there are plenty of birds having a chattering persimmon feast. We grin at the cheerful sight, which we might not have noticed if Kennedy hadn’t encouraged us repeatedly to look up.

Kennedy is not actually on our path. His voice is coming from a podcast that we’re lis(continued on next page)

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Page 28ĂŠUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

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Flora & fauna

(continued from previous page)

tening to on earphones. We’re taking a new self-guided tour of the Stanford campus’ plants, animals and science art, put together by biologists Kennedy and Paul Ehrlich, plant ecologist Katherine Preston and writer and artist Darryl Wheye. Several guest voices, including that of Patience Young, the Cantor Arts Center’s curator for education, pop up from time to time.

While the tour often urges walkers to check out birds and trees — and mingles human voices with birdsong — much of it is about the relationship between science and art. This particular loop, which runs from the Stanford post office to the Quad, encompasses five works of outdoor art while pointing out flora and fauna.

In some cases, the connection between science and art is very direct. Several works of art, such as “Luna Moth Walk I,� represent nature’s creatures on campus.

By the law school, the podcast points out “The Falcon,� an Alexander Calder sculpture. Young remarks that the work “has been guarding the courtyard for 30 years.� It’s a 3,800-pound sculpture that started life as a small paper model.

Kennedy chimes in to give some history of the tradition of falconry. He also notes that American kestrels — small falcons — can be seen on the Stanford campus, especially on moderately windy days. “These little falcons are formidable flyers,� he says.

In other cases, the podcast alternates discussing art with talking about the plants and animals that can be seen nearby, or simply delves into local nature and campus life.

The tour lingers in the citrus courtyard, a graceful space near Lasuen Mall hosting lemon, lime, orange and kumquat trees. Preston points out the long, smooth leaves, then tells a story from 1979, when nearby avocado trees were set to be felled for a campus renovation. The late professor Ron Bracewell, an engineer and tree devotee, threatened to chain himself to one of the trunks. All but one of the trees were saved.

Overall, the tour is meant to draw visitors’ attention to their place in the environment, to help people see how human creativity and nature’s works can complement each other. “One of our themes is sustainability. How can humans live sustainably in a campus setting?�

Preston says in a later interview.

Kennedy agrees. As a former university president, he is used to looking at the campus through a broad lens.

He says making the podcast made him think about many questions: “How, as you develop the campus as a physical space, do you make allowances for nature? How do built and unbuilt spaces connect? And as we plan new buildings, how can we draw attention to what’s here?�

He chuckles. “Students shouldn’t have to go on vacation to see and identify a scrub jay.�

Kennedy and his cohorts began making the podcast tour series af-

ter receiving a $12,000 grant from the Stanford Institute for Creativity and the Arts, hoping to make a series of 10 walking loops that would appeal to students, faculty, staff and visitors. So far, one hourlength loop is available for download at birds.stanford.edu, with two more recorded and awaiting editing.

The group is seeking more funding for the other walks — making the first three proved to be quite an involved endeavor.

At first, they thought Kennedy would do all the speaking, but then decided to have him be the main narrator, with other Stanford voices woven in. “One person can’t talk all that long,� Wheye says, laughing.

One podcast also isn’t recorded at a single go. The group walked the tours several times, covering lots of ground. Loop 2, for instance, includes the New Guinea Sculpture Garden and Kennedy Grove, while loop 3 focuses on Lake Lagunita.

(The completed walk that’s online is actually loop 7 — the creators went a little out of order.)

Then the group had recording sessions in Kennedy’s office and other quiet places so voices could be clearly heard. Other sounds, such as birdsong and mosquito and bat noises, got blended in later.

Wheye has been the main editor, donating much of her time. “I was amazed at how much I learned, and I’ve been here since 1960,� Kennedy says.

Ultimately, the group would like to supplement the tours with educational display cases at buildings near the loops. “We haven’t figured out how to fund that yet,� Wheye says.

Back outside, strolling along loop 7, my companion and I see sculptures and raven nests, woodpecker holes in palm-tree trunks and the faces of the Stanford family in a cedar totem pole by Don Yeomans.

A long copper tear falls from the face of Jane Stanford, who’s weeping for the loss of her young son.

My companion remarks that the podcast tour “helps you to focus on a smaller level.� And on a taller one. “I walked through there (before) and didn’t even notice the totem pole,� he adds.

We gaze for a long time at the nearby “Mozart 1,� a stainless-steel geometric criss-cross of a sculpture by Kenneth Snelson. Through the tubes and wires of the piece, we can see the Hoover Tower standing tall. “The sculpture is about essential forces,� Young says in our ears. “The tubes represent compression and the wires represent tension ...

The piece stays together because the parts are mutually supportive and press outward to form a tense, stable network.� Young muses that this is like the push and pull of an ecosystem. “That’s it,� Kennedy says. “Change one part of the system, you change all parts of the system to one degree or another.� N Info: For more about the podcast tours, and to download the 10minute introduction and one-hour tour, go to birds.stanford.edu.

Joyce Goldschmid

Arts & Entertainment — from a support group, from a new boyfriend, from home videos — Becca can find no relief from her loss. In Warrick’s stirring performance, the void in Becca’s life echoes through everything she does and says.

Her most intriguing connection — and her closest thing to comfort — doesn’t come from her husband, who fears that as she attempts to move on, she’ll simply erase their son’s memory. No, it comes from a surprising source: the high-school student who accidentally killed her son.

Jason (Zachary Freier-Harrison) wants — needs — desperately to talk to Becca and Howie. He’s caught up in their drama whether they like it or not, and things are not going especially well for him, either.

Freier-Harrison is in only a few scenes, but this Palo Alto High School sophomore gives a performance far beyond his years. He and Warrick are astonishing together and take an already extraordinary play to a surprisingly real, undeniably moving, emotional level.

Each of the actors has a moment or two that surges with emotion.

Carlson explodes when his tangible connections to his son begin to disappear. O’Keefe offers counsel based on a lifetime experience with loss, and McGrath offers some acerbic humor to lighten a heavy load.

On Broadway, Cynthia Nixon of “Sex and the City� fame played Becca to great acclaim (and a Tony

Becca (played by Shannon Warrick) and Howie (Earle Carlson) seek comfort after the loss of their son in David Lindsay-Abaire’s play “Rabbit Hole.� of normalcy, like a small celebration for Izzy’s birthday, but then Nat rambles on about the Kennedy family curse and moves quickly on to how Aristotle Onassis likely died from grief after his son’s death in an airplane accident. SudBrave performances, astute direction make Players’ tale denly the conversation turns personal and painful because it’s all of grief a work of art about what is unspoken most of the

by Chad Jones time: the beautiful child who is no longer running around the house. young woman standing in Another major theme of “Rabbit a well-appointed suburban THEATER REVIEW Hole� is comfort. While her famhome observes, “There’s ily members seem to take comfort this weirdness in the air.� She’s so right, and the weirdness that fogs unvarnished honesty.

Langbehn and her cast rise to the house rises from a potent mix of anger, confusion, helplessness the challenge of Lindsay-Abaire’s play, and the result is an immerand, most of all, grief.

The Palo Alto Players’ produc- sive theatrical experience that is tion of “Rabbit Hole� by David as pleasurable as it is painful. The Lindsay-Abaire is overflowing actors are sure-footed and remarkwith grief but, perhaps surpris- ably restrained, so it’s almost imingly, this is not a depressing play. possible not to get caught up in the There’s tremendous emotion, and aching complexity of the story.

This is a story that is, primartears are most definitely earned. ily, an exploration of grief and no But the play is so well written and the production so strong that the one really grieves in the same way. sadness of the story is tempered by Becca (Shannon Warrick) and her husband, Howie (Earle Carlson), the triumph of the show itself.

These days, when the simple act have both lost their only child, but of turning on the news reveals dev- their paths from that loss are starPALO ALTO COMMONS offers a astation on an unimaginable scale, tlingly different.

Their marriage appears to be comprehensive program for individuals with why would potential audience members want to go see a play — functioning, just as their lovely Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in our even a Pulitzer Prize-winner like home (beautiful, understated set by Patrick Klein) appears to be “Rabbit Hole� — about a sad famMeadow Wing. Here, residents enjoy daily ily attempting to deal with the loss completely normal. But as Becca’s sister, Izzy (Kate McGrath), notes, walks on beautiful garden paths and a full of a young child?

The answer is simple: A piece there’s that “weirdness� hanging in program of activities to engage mind, body of art, which this show unques- the air.

Of course there’s weirdness. tionably is, leads us into group and spirit. catharsis through beauty, insight That’s the function of grief: It takes everything normal and completely and, in this case, some well-earned subverts it. Awkward silences, unpathos.

For residents in the later stages of Alzheimer’s Under the astutely sympathetic expected rages, disrupted frienddisease, our Focused Care Program provides direction of Marilyn Langbehn, ships and a near-constant sense of the Palo Alto Players cast deliv- unreality become the norm. Peofor all of the resident’s unique needs. Here, ers performances of the highest ple’s lives become so consumed with navigating the foreign, concaliber, but there’s really no other families are assured that their loved one will choice with this material. In other stantly shifting landscape of grief get the best care in the most appropriate hands, the story of a couple whose that there’s barely room for any4-year-old son was accidentally thing — or anyone — else. environment now and in the future as needs That’s where we find Becca and struck and killed by a high-school Howie: together but completely driver could be mawkish and senmay change. alone, even when they’re with famtimental.

We’ve all seen the made-for-TV ily like Izzy and Becca’s mom, Nat grief-a-paloozas that fill Lifetime (Jackie O’Keefe). “You’re not in a better place and other such channels. “Rabbit Hole� avoids those usual tear- than I am, Howie,� Becca charges. jerking traps through sharp writ- “You’re just in a different place.�

24 Hour On-site Licensed Nurse Services There are occasional moments ing, incredible depth of feeling and

Catharsis and beauty on stage

A

Award), and we can look forward to a movie version starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart.

Celebrity flash aside, it’s hard to imagine actors making a more personal connection than those on stage at the Lucie Stern Theatre.

They give brave performances in a brutal but empathetic play. If you want to know what happens when art jolts you into a fresh sense of appreciation of perspective, take a trip down this “Rabbit Hole� and find out. N What: “Rabbit Hole� by David Lindsay-Abaire, presented by Palo Alto Players Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto When: Through Feb. 1 with 8 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday and 2:30 p.m. matinees on Sundays Cost: Tickets are $30 general and $26 for seniors and students on Thursdays and Sundays.

Info: Go to www.paplayers.org or call 650-329-0891.

For a theater review of Dragon Productions’ “An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein,� which critic Kevin Kirby calls “a high-spirited romp,� go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com, click on “Palo Alto Weekly� and go to the Jan. 29 issue. The Dragon review is also scheduled to run in the Weekly’s print edition on Feb. 5.

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*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 29

Mark Kitaoka

Arts & Entertainment

Megan McGinnis plays Jerusha Abbott in “Daddy Long Legs.�

Dream team With sharp writers and an enchanting pair of actors, ‘Daddy Long Legs’ has legs indeed

by Jeanie K. Smith

T

heatreWorks’ emphasis on new stage work is a real boon for our community, putting us on the map nationally as a destination for artists looking to create the next great American play or musical, and bringing together theater artists in a supportive, creative environment.

Occasionally the combination is just right. Writers, composers and production team unite to show what’s really possible with the magic of theater. Such is the stuff that “Daddy Long Legs� is made of.

This new musical weaves its magic

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THEATER REVIEW right into our hearts and minds, and is definitely one of the best surprises of the theater season so far.

The lineage here has all the right stuff. Composer Paul Gordon did the music and lyrics; he’s best known to TheatreWorks audiences for the recent hit “Emma.� John Caird, who co-directed and adapted “Les Miserables,� among many noteworthy award-winning shows, wrote the adaptation, and also directed this world-premiere production. It was Caird’s wife who recommended Jean Webster’s 1912 novel “Daddy Long Legs� as the next project for the duo.

Webster’s novel and the musical chronicle the coming of age of orphan Jerusha Abbott (Megan McGinnis), who is mysteriously financed for a full ride to college, after showing some early prom-

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• PENINSULA PEOPLE • PENINSULA IMAGES • VIEWS BEYOND THE PENINSULA • YOUTH • ADULT ENTRY DEADLINE: April 2, 2010, 5:30pm ENTRY FORM AND RULES AVAILABLE AT www.PaloAltoOnline.com For more information call 650.223.6508 or e-mail arenalds@paweekly.com

Page 30ĂŠUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

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ise with her writing. Her benefactor chooses to remain anonymous and silent, but Jerusha can never be silent, writing lengthy, colorful letters each month to her “Daddy Long Legs,� as she nicknames him.

As she blossoms from a girl into an educated and accomplished young woman, she writes and writes, and her relationship with “Daddy� grows, even though it’s a one-sided conversation.

Or is it? The conceit of the novel, in which we hear only from Jerusha through her letters, is altered in the musical to allow us to see and hear her benefactor and would-be suitor, Jervis Pendleton (Robert Adelman Hancock). Jerusha of course doesn’t know that the attractive young man and her “Daddy� are one and the same, but we do, and that’s part of the fun and the intrigue, seeing the relationship unfold by fits and starts, and wondering how it will turn out.

If you’ve read the book, of course, you know.

The novel itself is witty, bright, philosophical by turns, and filled with sharp observations on life and society, especially on matters of disparate wealth and its effect on people. Caird has done a great job of keeping these delightful details alive, as well as illuminating the warm heart at the story’s core. Gordon’s lyrics also capture the bouncy and erudite language of budding author Jerusha in humorous rhyme.

The two have shaped the engaging monologue of the novel into a wonderful dialogue between two appealing characters.

What brings the project to life, however, are the remarkable performances given by McGinnis and Hancock, as the only performers on stage. The entire show rests on their shoulders, and they are both stunning in their roles, delivering the goods with ease and aplomb and enchanting modesty.

McGinnis has the voice of an angel, perfectly suited for this role,

FIFTY-FOURTH SEASON 2009-10 BOX OFFICE 650.424.9999 Tickets online at WBOpera.org

Der FreischĂźtz

Carl Maria von Weber

in German, with English titles

will Love triumph?

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Lucie Stern Theatre 1305 MiddleďŹ eld Road Palo Alto

February 19, 21, 27 and 28, 2010 JosĂŠ Luis Moscovich conductor

Yuval Sharon director

Paula Goodman Wilder Ben Bongers Peter Graham Gregory Stapp Eric Coyne David Hodgson Patrycja Polushowicz Joaquin Quilez-Marin and

Yannis Adoniou’s KUNST-STOFF Dance Company

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Arts & Entertainment one that issues from her with apparent effortlessness. She’s winsome, cute, feisty, intelligent and proud, as needed, as if she were born Jerusha. Her expressiveness, both in visage and in song, speaks volumes.

She transitions from young girl to young woman quite naturally. And she amazed me with her ability to do absolutely anything while continuing to sing.

Hancock has the task of creating a character almost from whole cloth, since there is little in the book on which to base Pendleton. But, Caird’s and Gordon’s work gives him an ample platform, and he takes it the rest of the way, making Pendleton a character utterly believable

and equal in strength to Jerusha.

His voice pleases in his solos, and rouses the house in “Charity,� but also blends flawlessly in duets with McGinnis.

While the entire production team deserves kudos for the show as a whole, the set and costumes by David Farley earn special notice. The set provides an almost infinite variety of choices for configurations, allowing for visualizing of different spaces on a single set, while the costumes capture the period and occasion without distracting and without taking actors off the set.

In short, TheatreWorks hits it out of the park with this production — it’s sweet, funny, touching, entranc-

L U C I L E PA C K A R D

Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District

ing and superbly done. N What: “Daddy Long Legs,� a new musical by John Caird and Paul Gordon, presented by TheatreWorks Where: Mountain View Center for Performing Arts, 500 Castro St. When: Through Feb. 14, with 7:30 p.m. shows Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, and 7 p.m.

Sundays Cost: Tickets are $34-$67.

Info: Go to www.theatreworks. org or call 650-463-1960.

C H I L D R E N ’ S H O S P I TA L

Your Child’s Health University Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital offers classes and seminars designed to foster good health and enhance the lives of parents and children.

Notice is hereby given that proposals will be received by the Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District for the following projects: Contract Numbers: PAHS PR – 01, OHES PR – 01, HGHS PR – 01 DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK: The work includes, but is not limited to: 1. PAHS PR – 01: The campus relocation of 16 modular buildings at Palo Alto High School.

2. OHES PR – 01: The campus relocation of two modular buildings, the installation of two Owner furnished modular buildings.

3. HGHS PR – 01: The campus relocation of 26 modular buildings, the installation of one Owner furnished modular restroom building.

All above-mentioned projects shall also include installations of the supporting infrastructure necessary to provide complete and operational systems. Contractor shall reference the contract documents for the complete description of the work.

There will be a mandatory pre-bid conference and site visit beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, February 19th, 2010. The pre-bid conference will begin at the Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District Facilities OfďŹ ce located at 25 Churchill Drive, Building D, Palo Alto, California 94306:

s THE JOB WALK WILL PROCEED ONTO THE ADJACENT 0ALO !LTO (IGH School Campus.

s A M ON &RIDAY &EBRUARY TH BEGINNING AT /HLONE Elementary School, 950 Amarillo Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94303

s A M ON &RIDAY &EBRUARY TH BEGINNING AT THE (ENRY Gunn High School OfďŹ ce, 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto California 94306 Bid Submission: Proposals must be received at the District Facilities OfďŹ ce (25 Churchill Drive, Building D, Palo Alto, California, 94306), deadline for submission of proposals are as follows:

INFANT MASSAGE

Learn the techniques of infant massage along with tips to relieve gas, aid digestion and soothe the soreness of vaccination sites on your baby. Class is recommended for infants from one month of age to crawling.

New classes begin at the end of January.

PEDIATRIC WEIGHT CONTROL PROGRAM Start the new year with a family-based, behavioral and educational weight management program that promotes healthy eating and exercise habits for overweight children and their families. More than 80% of children achieve long-term weight loss through this program – and parents lose weight too!

The new session starts soon, call (650) 725-4424 to register. Spaces are limited.

NEWBORN CARE 101 This interactive program teaches the speciďŹ cs of newborn care including bathing, swaddling, soothing, and more. Infant doll models are used to allow for hands-on practice.

- Saturday, February 27: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

STAYING CLOSE WHILE STANDING BACK Julie Metzger, RN, creator of our “Heart to Heart� program, hosts an evening for parents of adolescents and young teens with a discussion of ways we can encourage our children to be resilient, accountable, and independent people in a fast-changing world.

- Tuesday, March 9: 7:00 – 8:30 pm

Call (650) 723-4600 or visit www.lpch.org to register or obtain more information on the times, locations and fees for these and other courses.

L U C I L E PA C K A R D

C H I L D R E N’S H O S P I T A L C A L L TO D AY TO S I G N U P F O R C L A S S E S ( 6 5 0 ) 72 3 - 4 6 0 0

s 0 !(3 02 n 0ALO !LTO (IGH 3CHOOL P M ON 4UESDAY March 2nd, 2010. s ('(3 02 n (ENRY 'UNN (IGH 3CHOOL P M ON 4UESDAY March 2nd, 2010. s /(%3 02 n /HLONE %LEMENTARY 3CHOOL 0 - 4UESDAY March 2nd, 2010.

PREVAILING WAGE LAWS: The successful Bidder must comply with all prevailing wage laws applicable to the Project, and related requirements contained in the Contract Documents.

Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District will maintain a Labor Compliance Program (LCP) for the duration of this project.

In bidding this project, the contractor warrants he/she is aware and will follow the Public Works Chapter of the California Labor Code comprised of labor code sections 1720 – 1861. A copy of the Districts LCP is available for review at 25 Churchill Avenue, Building D, Palo Alto, CA 94306.

1. A pre-job conference shall be conducted with the contractor or subcontractors to discuss federal and state labor law requirements applicable to the contract.

2. Project contractors and subcontractors shall maintain and furnish to the District, at a designated time, a certiďŹ ed copy of each payroll with a statement of compliance signed under penalty of perjury.

3. The District shall review and, if appropriate, audit payroll records to verify compliance with the Public Works Chapter of the Labor Code.

4. The District shall withhold contract payments if payroll records are delinquent or inadequate.

5. The District shall withhold contract payments as described in the LCP, including applicable penalties when the District and Labor Commissioner establish that underpayment of other violations has occurred.

Beginning Monday February 1st, 2010, by appointment, bidders may examine Plans and SpeciďŹ cations at Facilities OfďŹ ce, Building D, Palo Alto, California 94306. Bidders may purchase copies of Plans and SpeciďŹ cations at Peninsula Digital Imaging, 599 Fairchild Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, Phone Number (650) 967-1966 upon payment of $200 per set with the check made out to Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District. This fee is refundable if the plans and speciďŹ cations are returned unaltered to the Facilities ofďŹ ce (Building D) within 14 calendar days of bid opening.

All questions can be addressed to: Palo Alto UniďŹ ed School District, 25 Churchill Avenue, Building D Palo Alto, CA 94306-1099 !TTN 4ABITHA 7ILLIAMS s 0HONE s &AX *>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?ÞÊUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊU Page 31

“THRILLING!�

SHAWN EDWARDS, FOX-TV

Movies OPENINGS

d’Or winner of the Cannes Film Festival raises intriguing questions that will linger long after the lights come up. Nothing is black and white but the color of the film.

Rated: R for some disturbing content involving violence and sexuality. In German, Italian, Polish and Latin with English subtitles. 2 hours, 24 minutes. — Susan Tavernetti

Edge of Darkness --Roxane Duran as Anna, the doctor’s daughter, in “The White Ribbon.�

The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band) ----

NOW PLAYING

CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS FOR THEATERS AND SHOWTIMES SORRY, NO PASSES ACCEPTED FOR THIS ENGAGEMENT

“ Jeff Bridges gives “

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Openings For a review of the romantic comedy “When in Rome� — which critic Peter Canavese gave half a star — go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/ movies.

Page 32ĂŠUĂŠ >Â˜Ă•>ÀÞÊә]ÊÓä£äÊUĂŠ*>Â?ÂœĂŠ Â?ĂŒÂœĂŠ7iiÂŽÂ?Ăž

(Aquarius) Malicious incidents occur in a small northern German village before the outbreak of World War I. A deliberately placed tripwire causes a doctor on horseback to take a terrible tumble. The wife of a tenant farmer falls through the floorboards of the sawmill where she works. The baron’s young son, kidnapped and tortured, barely survives. Another child is beaten until almost blind. A barn goes up in flames.

Who does things like that?

The narrator of Michael Haneke’s disturbing meditation on the spiritual, moral and economic climate of this seeming Village of the Damned asks that question. So will you. Although the mystery framework — with its intrinsic promise of providing an answer — arouses curiosity, Haneke (“The Piano Teacher,â€? “Funny Games,â€? “CachĂŠâ€?) never fulfills audience expectations. The German-born and Austrian-raised director has a more ambitious goal: to invite reflection.

Haneke shows but never tells. Darkness lurks in the corners of his film frame, and narrative ambiguity leaves room for interpretation. To encourage the viewer to think rather than respond emotionally to his work, Haneke uses Brechtian distancing devices: the disembodied voice of the elderly narrator (Ernst Jacobi), once the village schoolteacher; unsympathetic characters; cinematographer Christian Berger’s crisp black-and-white images that never depict the past in nostalgic soft focus; puzzling acts of cruelty that may or may not clarify such subsequent developments as National Socialism in Hitler’s Germany or any authoritarian system that engenders terrorist acts today.

You fill in the blanks.

For generations, the rural and remote village has operated as a patriarchal system with a ruling class.

The wealthy baron (Ulrich Tukur) owns the land, and his economic sanctions and poor working conditions are now causing grumbles among the tenant farmers and foreign harvesters. Those under his hire, such as the steward (Josef Bierbichler) and the school teacher (Christian Friedel in a marvelous performance), carry out the master’s bidding. But even the baron’s wife (Ursina Lardi) can barely tolerate a life of captivity in this microcosm of the German Empire and Fatherland.

Moral authority comes in the form of a respected pastor (Burghart KlauĂ&#x;ner) who whips his sinful children behind beautifully stenciled closed doors. He and his wife (Steffi KĂźhnert) tie white ribbons, symbolic of innocence and purity, around the children’s arms to remind them to be good. The doctor (Rainer Bock) and his relationship with the local midwife (Susanne Lothar) reveal more layers of cruelty and hypocrisy.

Violence breeds mistrust and fear — and increasingly repressive rule. What turns an ideal into ideology?

With the painterly look and understated eloquence of a Bresson or Bergman classic, this year’s Palme

(Century 16, Century 20) It has been eight long years since Mel Gibson headlined a feature film (“Signs� in 2002). In the interim, Gibson has been surrounded more by controversy than co-stars. His directorial effort on “The Passion of the Christ� revealed an almost unsettling religious fervor, while an offscreen roadside rant riddled with four-letter words (and anti-Semitic overtones) all but devastated his reputation.

Gibson the man still has some work to do. Gibson the actor, however, is back and better than ever.

His latest film is a gripping thriller reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning “The Departed,� and Gibson serves up a ferocious performance. As Boston detective Thomas Craven — a determined dad seeking vengeance for the murder of his only child — Gibson is simultaneously vulnerable and relentless. His emotionally driven portrayal helps steer viewers past the white-water ripples of a convoluted plot.

The violent shooting death of Craven’s 24-year-old daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic of “Drag Me to Hell�) ignites the story. Resolute and eager for answers, Craven begins questioning those who knew her best, often using brutal techniques to withdraw the truth.

Craven’s prodding eventually leads to Emma’s clandestine work at a weapons-manufacturing corporation and its seedy president, Jack Bennett (Danny Huston of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine�). As Craven gets closer to discovering the real reason behind Emma’s death, he develops a surprising mutual respect with British-born “problem solver� Darius Jedburgh (Ray Winstone of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull�) while poisonous adversaries and government conspiracies surround him.

Director Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale�) does an excellent job underscoring the relationship between Craven and his daughter. After her death, Craven continues to hear whispers of his daughter’s voice and see fleeting visions of her as a child. One fantastic scene has Craven shaving, his precocious daughter using a comb to shave beside him, giggling joyously. The father-daughter moments — despite being dreamlike memories — are genuine and heartfelt.

But the complicated storyline becomes hard to follow, as is often the case when shadowy government agents and unrealistic double-crosses surface. Winstone’s role is also never fully explored, making his character more confusing than compelling, though the charismatic actor still brings a tough-guy swagger to the film.

Tense, visceral and well-directed, Gibson’s return to the big screen will take you right to the edge.

Rated R for strong bloody violence and language.

1 hour, 48 minutes. — Tyler Hanley To view the trailers for “The White Ribbon,� “Edge of Darkness and “When in Rome,� go to Palo Alto Online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com

MOVIE TIMES

A Prairie Home Century 16: Thu 8 p.m. Century 20: Thu 8 p.m.

Companion Live (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) A Single Man (R) ((((

Aquarius: 5:30 & 8:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 2:30 p.m.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (G) (Not Reviewed)

Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 11:30 a.m.; 1:45, 4, 6:30 & 8:45 p.m. Century 20: Fri., Sun.-Tue. & Thu. at 11:30 a.m.; 1:45, 4 & 6:15 p.m.; Sat. at 11:30 a.m. & 1:45 p.m.; Wed. at 11:30 a.m.; 1:45 & 4 p.m.

An Education (PG-13) (((

Guild: 7 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 1:30 p.m.

Avatar (PG-13)

Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. (in 3D) at 11:35 a.m.; 1:30, 3:30,

(((

5:30, 7, 9 & 10:30 p.m. Century 20: Fri.-Tue. & Thu. at 8:35 p.m.;

In 3D at 11:20 a.m.; 12:30, 1:40, 2:50, 4:10, 5:30, 6:30, 8:05, 9:05 & 10 p.m.; Sun. also at 10:15 a.m.

The Blind Side (PG-13) ((

Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 12:05 & 6:15 p.m. Century 20: 12:40, 3:55, 7:20 & 10:25 p.m.

Bold and Fresh Century 16: Tue. at 8 p.m. Century 20: Sat. at 5 p.m.; Tue. at 8 Tour: O’Reilly p.m. and Beck Live (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) The Book of Eli (R) (((

Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 1:15, 4:20, 7:25 & 10:10 p.m.

Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; 2, 4:45, 7:35 & 10:20 p.m.

Broken Guild Theatre: 4 & 9:30 p.m.

Embraces (R) ((( Crazy Heart (R) (((

Century 20: 11:20 a.m.; 2, 4:35, 7:15 & 9:55 p.m. Palo Alto Square: 2, 4:40 & 7:15 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 9:55 p.m.

Edge of Darkness (R)

Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 11:45 a.m.; 1:10, 2:30, 3:55, 5:15, 6:40, 7:55, 9:30 & 10:35 p.m. Century 20: 11:25 a.m.; 12:50, 2:15, 3:40, 4:55, 6:25, 7:45, 9:20 & 10:30 p.m.; Sun. also at 10:10 a.m.

(((

Extraordinary Measures (PG) ((

Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 11:40 a.m.; 2:10, 4:40, 7:15 & 9:55 p.m. Century 20: 11:45 a.m.; 2:20, 4:55, 7:40 & 10:20 p.m.

Invictus Century 16: Fri.-Mon. at Wed. at 3:05 & 9:10 p.m.

(PG-13) (((1/2 It’s Complicated Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 1, 4:10, 7:10 & 10:15 p.m.

(R) ((( Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; 1:55, 4:40, 7:30 & 10:30 p.m.

Leap Year (PG) 1/2

Century 20: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 6:55 & 9:25 p.m.; Tue. at 2:10 p.m.

Legion (R) Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 12:15, 2:45, 5:20, 7:50 & 10:25 (Not Reviewed) p.m. Century 20: 12:25, 2:55, 5:20, 7:55 & 10:35 p.m.

The Lovely Bones Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 12:25, 3:25, 6:45 & 9:45 p.m.

(PG-13) ((1/2 Century 20: 1, 4:05, 7:05 & 10:05 p.m.; Sun. also at 10:05 a.m.

The Metropolitan Century 20: Wed. at 6:30 p.m. Palo Alto Square: Wed. at Opera: Carmen 6:30 p.m.

(Not Rated) (Not Reviewed)

Fri & Sat ONLY 1/29-1/30 Crazy Heart - 2:00, 4:40, 7:15, 9:55; The Young Victoria - 2:20, 4:50, 7:20, 9:50; Sun-Tues 1/31-2/2 Crazy Heart - 2:00, 4:40, 7:15; The Young Victoria - 2:20, 4:50, 7:20 Wed ONLY 2/3 Crazy Heart - 2:00, 4:40, 7:15 The Young Victoria - 2:20, 4:40, 7:20 Thurs ONLY 2/4 Crazy Heart - 2:00, 4:40, 7:15 The Young Victoria - 2:20, 4:50, 7:20

! " # "$ $ #$ $ %

WINNER

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD ÂŽ

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

WINNER

ŠHFPA

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

HAMILTON BEHIND THE CAMERA AWARD LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS

“ONE OF THE BEST PICTURES OF THE YEAR.�

THE NEW YORK TIMES TIME MAGAZINE NEW YORK FILM CRITICS ONLINE

A Film Film by

by Michael Michael Haneke Haneke A

WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM

CHECK THEATRE DIRECTORIES OR CALL FOR SHOWTIMES

VIEW THE TRAILER AT WWW.THEWHITERIBBONFILM.COM

The Princess and Century 20: 11:40 a.m. & 4:30 p.m.; Fri.-Mon., Wed. & Thu. the Frog (G) ((( also at 2:10 p.m.

Sherlock Holmes Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 12:45, 3:45, 7:05 & 10:05 p.m.

(PG-13) Century 20: 1:15, 4:15, 7:10 & 10:15 p.m.; Sun. also at 10:20 (((1/2 a.m.

The Spy Next Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 12:30, 2:50, 5:10, 7:35 & 9:50 p.m.

Door (PG) Century 20: 12:10, 2:40, 5, 7:25 & 9:45 p.m.; Sun. also at 10 a.m.

(Not Reviewed) Tooth Fairy Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 11:50 a.m.; 2:20, 4:50, 7:30 & 10 (PG) p.m. Century 20: 1:50, 4:25, 7 & 9:30 p.m.; Fri., Sat. & Mon.-Thu. (Not Reviewed) also at 11:25 a.m.

Up in the Air (R) (((1/2

Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at noon, 2:35, 5:05, 7:45 & 10:20 p.m. Century 20: 11:50 a.m.; 2:25, 5:10, 7:50 & 10:35 p.m.

When in Rome (PG-13) 1/2

Century 16: Fri.-Mon. & Wed. at 12:20, 2:40, 5, 7:20 & 9:40 p.m.

Century 20: 11:35 a.m.; 12:45, 1:55, 3:05, 4:20, 5:25, 6:50, 7:50, 9:10 & 10:10 p.m.; Sun. also at 10:25 a.m.

The White Aquarius: 4:30 & 8 p.m.; Fri.-Sun. also at 1 p.m.

Ribbon (R) (((( The Young Victoria (PG) (((1/2

Palo Alto Square: Fri. & Sat. at 2:20, 4:50, 7:20 & 9:50 p.m.; Sun.Tue. & Thu. at 2:20, 4:50 & 7:20 p.m.; Wed. at 2:20 p.m.

( Skip it (( Some redeeming qualities ((( A good bet (((( Outstanding Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (266-9260) Century Cinema 16: 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View (800-326-3264) Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City (800-326-3264) CinĂŠArts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (493-3456) Guild: 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (266-9260) Internet address: For show times, plot synopses, trailers and more information about films playing, go to Palo Alto Online at http://www.PaloAltoOnline.com/

WINNER

CRITICS’ CHOICE AWARD BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

“A SIZZLINGLY SEXY FILM NOIR.�

-Lou Lumenick, NEW YORK POST

WWW.SONYCLASSICS.COM

Fresh news delivered daily

VIEW THE TRAILER AND EXCLUSIVE MATERIAL AT BROKENEMBRACESMOVIE.COM

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Eating Out RESTAURANT REVIEW

Keeping it simple Mixed-rice bowls at Sunny Bowl are tasty, straightforward Korean fare

by Kelsey Mesher

Michelle Le

I

The tuna sashimi bowl includes rice, cabbage, cucumbers, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, radishes and carrots.

DINNER BY THE MOVIES AT SHORELINE’S

Pizzeria Venti le!

ilab a v a g rin

cate

t’s as easy as this: Sunny Bowl Korean restaurant is filling, delicious and cheap.

This is the true definition of a hole-in-the wall eatery, hidden away in a nondescript strip mall stall near the Century Cinemas 16 movie theater. Despite its relatively un-charming location — it appears rather dull from the outside, and is next door to Subway — Sunny Bowl is an unusual Mountain View restaurant that should appeal to the area’s many frugal and health-conscious food lovers.

For about a year, owner Daniel Choi has been serving up bibimbap, or “mixed rice� bowls, to patrons. These are the only entrees available, but the simplicity

of Sunny Bowl’s menu is consistent with its interior space — a tiny pastel-colored room with fewer than 10 tables — and the food served there.

The dining area’s main attraction is a very large chalkboard listing the menu along with a detailed diagram of the bibimbap, which is a crucial help for firsttimers.

Each bowl consists of steamed jasmine rice with a layer of freshly cut vegetables neatly organized on top. Green and red cabbage, cucumber, radish, carrot, romaine lettuce and scrambled egg are presented in a pinwheellike display, along with choice of meat, chicken, fish or tofu and a small grape tomato for garnish.

Recipe from Harry’s Bar in Venice

Harry’s Bar opened in 1931 when Giuseppe Cipriani, an enterprising bartender at the Hotel Europa in Venice, got some ďŹ nancial assistance from a rich, young American from Boston named Harry Pickering. According to Cipriani company history, Pickering had been a customer at the Hotel Europa for some time, suddenly stopped frequenting the hotel bar. Cipriani saw Pickering one day and asked why he no longer patronized the bar.

Pickering was broke, he explained to the bartender -- his family cut him off when it was discovered he had not curtailed his recklessness and fondness for drinking. So, Cipriani loaned his patron a chunk of cash -- about 10,000 lire, or $5,000 U.S.. Two years later, Pickering walked back into the Hotel Europa, ordered a drink at the bar, handed 10,000 lire to Giuseppe Cipriani – he then handed Cipriani more. “Mr. Cipriani, thank you. Here’s the money. And to show you my appreciation, here’s 40,000 more, enough to open a bar.

We will call it Harry’s Bar,â€? Located on Calle Vallaresso, close to the Piazza San Marco, the bar -- as the Cipriani’s have always called it -- was ďŹ rst conceived as a hotel bar, serving no food, and later transformed into a restaurant. There are many imitators, but only one Harry’s Bar. To honor this famous Italian culinary icon, we submit our version of one of Harry’s Famous recipes‌ From our kitchen to yours. Buon appetito! Chef Marco Salvi, Executive Chef

Tagliolini with shrimp and zucchini from Harry’s Bar (TAGLIOLINI CON I GAMBERI E LA ZUCCHINA DALLA HARRY’S BAR) s POUND FRESH YOUNG ZUCCHINI CUT INTO 1-inch by 1/4 inch strips s POUND ABOUT MEDIUM SHRIMP

shelled, deveined and cut in half s TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL s GARLIC CLOVES CRUSHED s TEASPOON DRIED RED PEPPER m AKES s SALT

1390 Pear Ave., Mountain View (650) 254-1120 www.mvpizzeriaventi.com

Page 34 • January 29, 2010 • Palo Alto Weekly

Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday

s ) POUND DRIED TAGLIOLINI OR FETTUCCINE OR fresh tagliatelle (egg pasta) s TABLESPOONS UNSALTED BUTTER SOFTENED s 3PLASH OF DRY WHITE WINE s CUP FRESHLY GRATED 0ARMIGIANO Reggiano cheese plus extra to pass at the table

To cook: Bring a large pot of water to boil before preparing the sauce. If using dry pasta salt boiling water and add pasta. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add the garlic, let it cook until golden, about 30 seconds, and discard it. Add the zucchini and cook for two minutes. Add the shrimp, the pepper  akes, and some salt, the wine and cook for three minutes, tossing constantly, until the shrimp are bright pink and ďŹ rm to the touch. Reserve 1/4 cup of the mixture for garnish. Set aside. If using fresh pasta, salt the boiling water, add the pasta, and cook until “al denteâ€? (about 2-3 minutes). Drain well in a colander. Toss the pasta with the zucchini-and-shrimp mixture, add the butter and the Parmesan, and toss well. Transfer to a heated serving platter dish and garnish with the reserved shrimp-and-zucchini mixture. Pass around a small bowl of grated Parmigiano cheese.

ShopTalk

by Daryl Savage

BITS AND PIECES ... Newcomers, nearby moves and name changes are popping up all over: • A newcomer is Pinkberry, the highly successful frozen-yogurt chain. It opened in Stanford Shopping Center over the weekend, and judging by last Sunday’s crowds it is a likely keeper in the mall. It is located on the El Camino Real side between Bloomingdale’s and Ralph Lauren. Pinkberry began five years ago in Southern California and now has 75 yogurt shops.

• A “nearby move” is the longawaited, across-the-street-anddown-a-block relocation of Su Hong. After 12 years at 4101 El Camino Way in Palo Alto, the Chinese restaurant moved last month to the former location of Denny’s restaurant at 4256 El Camino Real. The move had been planned for years and “we’re happy to finally be here,” one of the servers said.

• Another across-the-street move

Each also comes with a side dish of kimchi, Korean pickled cabbage. Add a bowl of miso soup for 92 cents.

Most bibimbaps are in the $4 to $6 range for a regular-sized bowl, which is more than enough for an average appetite. Add 92 cents for a large bowl, except in the case of fish (add $1.84) or sashimi (add $2.76).

Those looking for a safe choice should stick with the chicken or beef bibimbap (both $5.50).

Lightly marinated in a teriyakilike sauce, the meats are served up steaming hot on the bed of vegetables, creating a satisfying mix of hot and cold, sweet and refreshing.

The egg-battered fish ($6.42) is a slightly more daring option.

The thinly sliced white fish is moist and flavorful, with a crispy and light exterior and just enough crunchy batter to make the bowl substantive but not overly indulgent.

An absolute must-try for sushi lovers is Sunny Bowl’s tuna sashimi bowl ($7.45). Seasoned with salt and pepper, the raw fish is flavored just enough. Served diced in sizeable squares, the tuna, mixed with the veggies and rice, makes for a thoughtful departure from Japanese nigiri-style tuna.

Vegetarians may choose from the asparagus bowl ($5.50) or tofu and broccoli ($4.54). Though a fellow vegetarian diner said he expected the tofu to have more distinct seasoning, he said the simplicity of the tofu and raw vegetables in his bibimbap worked nicely once they were combined with hot sauce and sesame oil (provided at every table).

Try one of Sunny Bowl’s affordable appetizers to satisfy cravings for salt and oil. The chicken pot-

FREE DELIVERY

like the right path: “Business has definitely picked up around here,” Fiaui said.

is in the Midtown neighborhood of Palo Alto. Best Video, which was at 2770 Middlefield Road, jumped across the street to a slightly larger location and is now next to My Gym at 2645 Middlefield Road. Interestingly, My Gym is the former site of Midtown Video, which closed in 2004.

• The name change belongs to the former Townhouse Inn, a 37-room hotel at 4164 El Camino Real in Palo Alto. After 30 years as Townhouse it is now called the Zen Hotel. The new name came after an extensive remodel that began last year. Changes include new pavers in the parking lot, upgraded beds and linens, and an eco-friendly Asian theme throughout the building. The renovation is still going on. “The landscaping is next. Then we’ll make the lobby larger and eventually we’ll be serving hot breakfast daily,” Manager Ina Fiaui said. The hotel’s new Web site says, “The path of enlightenment for travelers to Palo Alto begins here at the Zen Hotel.” It sounds

stickers ($2.76) came four to an order, and arrived sizzling, with a thin, crispy casing and surprisingly flavorful filling. The kimchi pancake ($2.76) was sweeter than the typical pickled kimchi flavor.

It was pan-fried though not overly heavy.

To sweeten the deal, Choi throws in a frozen-yogurt dessert with every bowl — the perfectly sweet, smooth finish to a lively meal.

Sunny Bowl provides cheap, convenient, high-quality food,

CONSIGNMENT JEWELRY IN LOS ALTOS ... Los Alto resident Connie May loves jewelry.

So much so that she recently opened her own jewelry shop at 331 First St. in downtown Los Altos. Called Estatements, it is a high-end jewelry consignment shop that also sells designer handbags and art. “We used to have parties where we would exchange jewelry with each other,” she said. “It is such a great concept that I always thought it would be a great idea to open a shop like that.” And the timing seemed just right. “It has a lot to do with the economy. Values have changed,” May said. “A lot of items are from my own circle of friends. They’re from the ‘horse set’ and the ‘golf set,’” she said. And even though Estatements is located next to another jewelry store, The Diamond Broker, she does not anticipate a problem. “We complement each other,” May said.

(with min. order)

“THE BEST PIZZA WEST OF NEW YORK” —Ralph Barbieri KNBR 680

880 Santa Cruz Ave Menlo Park

790 Castro St Mountain View

(650) 329-8888

(650) 961-6666

(at University Drive)

(1 block from El Camino)

Buy 1 entree and get the 2nd one

with coupon (Dinner Only)

Heard a rumor about your favorite store or business moving out, or in, down the block or across town? Daryl Savage will check it out. She can be e-mailed at shoptalk@paweekly.com. without too many added calories.

Its success lies in the simplicity of its bowls. This food cannot hide behind butter, oil or grease, and it doesn’t need to. In the words of one diner: “I’m going back!” ■

,UNCH "UFFET - & s /RGANIC 6EGGIES s 2ESERVATION !CCEPTED

369 Lytton Avenue Downtown Palo Alto 462-5903

Family owned and operated for 15 years

w w w. j a n t a i n d i a n r e s t a u r a n t . c o m

Sunny Bowl 1477 Plymouth St. #C, Mountain View 650-625-0361 www.sunnybowl.com Hours: Weekdays 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sat. noon-9 p.m.

CITY OF PALO ALTO NOTICE OF CITY MANAGER’S PUBLIC HEARING CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Palo Alto City Manager or his designee will consider the applications of Amendment to the current Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity for Yellow Cab Company Peninsula, Inc to increase the number of taxicabs to operate in the City of Palo Alto under the business name California Cab Company, and Yellow Checker Cab Company, Inc to increase the number of taxicabs to operate in the City of Palo Alto under the business name of Silicon Valley Checker Cab Company and Yellow Cab Company of Palo Alto, at a special meeting on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in the First Floor Human Resources Conference Room, located at 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto.

19th Annual Photo Contest CALL FOR ENTRIES ENTRY DEADLINE: April 2, 2010, 5:30pm

ENTRY FORM & RULES AVAILABLE at www.PaloAltoOnline.com For more information call 650.226.6508 or e-mail arenalds@paweekly.com

Palo Alto Weekly • January 29, 2010 • Page 35

MEXICAN The Oaxacan Kitchen 321-8003 Authentic Mexican Restaurant 2323 Birch Street, Palo Alto 1 ÊUÊ

,ÊUÊ/ Ê"1/ÊUÊ / ,

of the week

also visit us at 6 Bay Area Farmer’s Markets www.theoaxacankitchen.com

PIZZA Pizza Chicago 424-9400 4115 El Camino Real, Palo Alto This IS the best pizza in town

AMERICAN

CHINESE

Armadillo Willy’s 941-2922

Peking Duck 856-3338

1031 N. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos

2310 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Range: $5.00-13.00

We also deliver.

Hobee’s 856-6124

Su Hong – Menlo Park

4224 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Dining Phone: 323–6852

Also at Town & Country Village,

To Go: 322–4631

Palo Alto 327-4111

Winner, Palo Alto Weekly “Best Of”

Spot A Pizza 324-3131 115 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto

Burmese

www.spotpizza.com

POLYNESIAN Trader Vic’s 849-9800 4269 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Dinner Mon-Thurs 5-10pm; Fri-Sat 5-11pm; Sun 4:30 - 9:30pm

8 years in a row!

Available for private luncheons

INDIAN

Lounge open nightly

Green Elephant Gourmet (650) 494-7391

Darbar Indian Cuisine 321-6688

Burmese & Chinese Cuisine

129 Lytton, Downtown Palo Alto

3950 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto

Lunch Buffet M-F; Open 7 days

(Charleston Shopping Center)

Voted Best Pizza in Palo Alto

Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-6 pm

SEAFOOD Cook’s Seafood 325-0604 751 El Camino Real, Menlo Park

Janta Indian Restaurant 462-5903

Seafood Dinners from

Dine-In, Take-Out, Local Delivery-Catering

369 Lytton Ave., Downtown Palo Alto

$6.95 to $10.95

CHINESE

Lunch Buffet M-F; Organic Veggies

Chef Chu’s (650) 948-2696

ITALIAN

1067 N. San Antonio Road

Spalti Ristorante 327-9390

#1 Town & Country Village, Palo Alto lunch and dinner

on the corner of El Camino, Los Altos

417 California Ave, Palo Alto

Happy Hour 7 days a week 4-7 pm

2008 Best Chinese

ÝµÕ Ã ÌiÊ `ÊUÊ"ÕÌ` ÀÊ }

Full Bar, Banquets, Outdoor Seating

MV Voice & PA Weekly

www.spalti.com

www.scottsseafoodpa.com

Jing Jing 328-6885

Pizzeria Venti 650-254-1120

THAI

443 Emerson St., Palo Alto

1390 Pear Ave, Mountain View

Thaiphoon Restaurant 323-7700

Authentic Szechwan, Hunan

www.MvPizzeriaVenti.com

543 Emerson St., Palo Alto

Food To Go, Delivery

Fresh, Chef Inspired Italian Food

Full Bar, Outdoor Seating

www.jingjinggourmet.com

JAPANESE & SUSHI

www.thaiphoonrestaurant.com

1700 Embarcadero East, Palo Alto www.mings.com New Tung Kee Noodle House 520 Showers Dr., MV in San Antonio Ctr.

Fuki Sushi 494-9383 4119 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

STEAKHOUSE Sundance the Steakhouse 321-6798 1921 El Camino Real, Palo Alto Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30 am-2:00pm

Voted MV Voice Best ‘01, ‘02, ‘03 & ‘04

Palo Alto Sol 328-8840

Dinner: Mon-Thu 5:00-10:00pm

Prices start at $4.75

408 California Ave, Palo Alto

Fri-Sat 5:00-10:30pm, Sun 5:00-9:00pm

947-8888

Õ}iÊ i ÕÊUÊ iÃÌÞ iÊ,iV «iÃ

www.sundancethesteakhouse.com

Page 36 • January 29, 2010 • Palo Alto Weekly

650-323-1555 855 El Camino Real #1 Town & Country Village

www.scottsseafoodpa.com

Best Thai Restaurant in Palo Alto 3 Years in a Row, 2006-2007-2008

Open 7 days a Week

MEXICAN

JUST ACROSS EL CAMINO FROM THE STANFORD CAMPUS

Scott’s Seafood 323-1555 Open 7 days a week serving breakfast,

Ming’s 856-7700

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner 7 days a week

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